Child of Prophecy
by KAC13
Summary: Naruto is made aware of his heritage at age 6, and Jiraiya begins training Naruto from that age. Years later, Naruto unexpectedly awakens an extinct power during his battle with Haku in Nami no Kuni. Already a gifted ninja, Naruto will grow into the legend everyone knows he will become.
1. Chapter 1

Konohagakure, Hokage's office.

"Alright, Naruto. You may enter." Responded Hiruzen Sarutobi, upon hearing a knock on his door. Said door opened and a small, spiky blonde haired child entered. Hiruzen smiled warmly as Naruto approached his desk, and Naruto reciprocated. The old man was one of the few in the village who treated him well.

"Hey,Hokage-jiji" smiled Naruto. He was wondering why he was called into the office, seeing as he usually just barged in there without much warning.

"I have some very important news to share with you Naruto. I hope you forgive me for not telling you sooner, but this an S-class secret and rightfully so." As he spoke, he activated the privacy seals in the room, having already sent out his Anbu.

Upon hearing this, Naruto went wide eyed. "Wha-" "It regards your parents." Hiruzen suddenly said. The 6 year olds shining blue eyes went as wide as saucers, with some tears threatening to spill out. Being an orphan, Naruto desperately wanted to know who they were.

Hiruzen took a puff of his pipe, being there was no easy way to say this. He decided to hand Naruto a picture. With trembling hands, Naruto took the picture. Looking at it, he saw a beautiful red-headed woman with a kind smile. Next to her was a man with piercing blue eyes and hair as spiky and blonde as his. In utter disbelief, he looked up, and eyes scanning the room, until his eyes came onto the row of Hokage portraits. Beside the Sandiame, was that very same man.

"..." the boy was absolutely speechless. Even he knew of the legendary exploits of the Yondaime Hokage. Then came a range of thoughts. He was happy he finally knew his parents , and that they loved him. Behind that, sadness at the thought they wouldn't meet. He finally felt anger bubbling up. Why did this have to happen. Shouldn't kids have their parents there to support and guide them? He was broken out of his thoughts by the Hokage. "Your parents were very powerful people, Naruto. I did not tell you earlier because your father especially had many enemies, ones who would not hesitate to take your life for revenge. You understand why this must remain a closely guarded secret."

Finding his voice and instead of yellling and shouting his anger, something told him not to. He knew the Hokage was not at fault and he would find an outlet later. "I understand Jiji. Thank you for telling me. Can you tell me about them?! What was my mothers name? Where were they from? Does anyone else know?" came the rapid fire questions of a child who discovered something he yearned for, even at a young age.

Hiruzen chuckled. "Her name was Kushina Uzumaki. She came from Uzushiogakure. Your father was an orphan as well. A few people, but they aren't very important right now, what is impo-"

"Yo!" said a new voice. Naruto and the Sandaime looked over and saw a large, white haired man with a horned forehead protector sitting in the windowsill.

"Jiraiya …" sighed the Hokage, "I was in the middle of something here."

"Sorry, but I was eager to meet my Godson formally." grinned the Toad Sage.

"God son?" said Naruto. "Who are you?"

"Glad you asked! I am the epitome of manliness and of the shinobi arts! Women fall at my feet while men tremble at the mere mention of my name! I am Jiraiya!" shouted the man as he struck a dramatic pose.

Naruto just looked at the Hokage, who had an amused expression on his face. "This is my former student, and was your father's sensei as well." This got Naruto's attention "You taught my dad?"

"Definitely did, brat. I was close with your father and mother, and I eventually ended up becoming your godfather shortly before you were born. However, you are now my apprentice as well." He grinned.

Naruto was too young to know the reputation of the Sannin, but the fact that this man taught his father made him eager to the thought of him being put through the same paces. Training is where he would unleash what he felt.

"Alright!" shouted the enthusiastic boy, causing both men to chuckle.

"Okay, meet me at training ground 13 ! i just have some things to discuss with the old man here." With that, Naruto ran out.

"Now that he knows who he is, i'll be coming by the village every few months to check in on him. My spy network needs me to keep it running. On that note, however, I became aware of some interesting news. There are rumors of a mercenary group called Akatsuki, comprised of S-rank missing nin. They seem to be interested in the tailed beasts, meaning they're coming after Naruto. That is why I sent a Toad to you, asking for him to be put under my wing while I am here. He's finally old enough to do so. I plan on telling Naruto in a few years of his condition, but for now just training. If he's anything like his father, he's a prodigy."

"Very well." said the Hokage. With that, Jiraiya disappeared in a swirl of leaves.

Hiruzen leaned back in his chair. He had seen the look in Naruto's eyes when he told him. He fully expected an outburst. However, the child had not done so. He was able to keep himself in check at 6. That was a frightening thought. "Naruto..." he said to no one in particular. "You will grow very powerful indeed.

Training Ground 13

"I'm going to be trained as a ninja!" mentally cheered Naruto as he arrived at the grounds. He had been so excited that he didn't even notice the pointed glares of the villagers as he usually did. He wondered what kind of cool jutsu he would be learning when the man, Jiraiya, appeared in a swirl of leaves.

"Alright Naruto, come here." Naruto ran over and stood at attention. "You're going to be coming here when I call you through this sealing bracelet, as I have to leave the village pretty regularly. Worry not, however, as you are going to have plenty to work on even while I'm gone. Also, I hope you like reading, as you're going to be visiting the library quite often" grinned the man.

"...Reading?! No thanks." said Naruto. Then he had a thought. "Jiraiya, can I ask you a favor? Can you please tell me about his parents? I know the old man told me who they are..but I want to know WHO they were. Please.

Jiraiya chuckled. "Sorry brat, but training your mind is as important as your body. And I definitely will tell you about them...But! You have to earn it. Work and train hard and I will tell you. Anyway, let's get started." and so began the standard explanation about Chakra and how to mold and control it.

XXX

The months went by, with Jiraiya discovering the boy had very large reserves of chakra, learning surprisingly good control over it. He quickly picked up on everything that was shown to him, including the body flicker technique. His mind progressed rapidly as well, becoming well versed in Shinobi and jutsu theory. His taijutsu was developing well, having taught him the style Minato used, which concentrated on speed and strong, debilitating strikes. Minato used the Hiraishin when fighting, but before he mastered that, he used a fighting style that complimented his natural speed, which Naruto inherited. His shuriken jutsu was advanced for his age as well, being able to match most Uchiha's in the art. He was even beginning to pick up Fuinjutsu, which seemed to naturally come to him. He was an Uzumaki after all. After almost 2 years of..well at times, brutal training, he was ready to start the Academy in a few days.

XXX

Naruto's apartment.

"Well Naruto, you have progressed very well. Keep on this path and I know you'll be able to surpass Minato. There is one thing I have to tell you, though."

"What is it, Ero-Sennin?" said Naruto, having taken to calling him this when he found out his sensei was just a big pervert a few months ago.

Brushing the nickname to the side, Jiraiya started " Have you ever felt a special chakra? And are you aware of the Kyuubi attack on the village 8 years ago?"

"I've never felt anything other than my regular, blue chakra. Why? And Yes, Dad killed it right before I was born right?"

"Actually,no. You can't kill a tailed beast. Minato defeated the Kyuubi...by sealing it inside of you. Naruto went wide eyed. "A masked man attacked the village with the beast the day you were born, and your father sealed it inside of you, knowing that one day you could control its power. The masked man is still out there, and he is very dangerous. Your father believed there are more threats behind him though, and the Kyuubi is your tool for helping to defeat him and keep the village safe.

Naruto pondered this. He knew how strong his father was, and if this man was as much of a threat as his father believed, it made sense to him. He spoke up "Damn..." he weakly laughed. Then his eyes hardened. Soft ocean blue turning into gleaming and pointed ice. He walked over to the training post and hit it so hard the wood cracked. He then appeared to be deep in thought. "Well, that explains why the villagers hate me." Naruto pointedly said. "I keep them safe from this thing and they treat me like trash."

"Naruto" started Jiraiya, in an attempt to placate the boy.

"I understand Dad's reasoning, as much as I hate it. I may be a kid, but I know this world is not fair. Not in the slightest. We are Shinobi first and foremost. As for the villagers, i'll make them recognize me when I become Hokage anyway. I'll show them who I really am. Not a monster or a freak."

The Toad Sage smirked. Naruto was really a very shrewd person, despite his age."Well said, kid. I thought you'd freak out but you take after Minato more than I thought. "Now come on, there's a jutsu I want to show you before you start the academy."

"What is it?"

"Shadow Clones." smiled the man.

XXX

That's the 1st chapter of my very 1st attempt at a fic. Not sure what else to say, thanks for reading.


	2. Chapter 2

**Here's chapter 2. Thank you for the reviews, I tried to edit my 1st chapter to try and correct some of my mistakes. This will be a learning experience for me, thank you to those who will stick around.**

 **XXX**

The academy years went by, with Naruto consistently scoring at the top of the class in all subjects. He could have graduated early, but decided to go the whole 9 and take in the whole academy experience. However, as he already knew most everything that was being taught, he usually didn't say much in class. He became the envy and admiration of most students, except a certain Uchiha, who thought he was the absolute best at everything. Naruto would always outperform him, much to his anger. That just caused the boy to train harder. He was an avenger AND and Uchiha after all. He had to be the best in order to defeat Itachi. There was no other path.

XXX

Finally, graduation day came, and 12 year old Naruto walked in the exam room and stood in front of Iruka. Wearing a white long sleeve shirt with the Uzumaki spiral on the back, sleeves cut off halfway down his forearm, and a mesh shirt under that with bandages wrapped around his wrist. He wore a pair of black Anbu-style pants, with black bandages wrapped around the bottom and onto his black shinobi sandals.

"Alright, Naruto, we're going to have you do 3 Jutsu. The Bunshin technique, the Kawarimi and the Henge. Start when you're ready." Smiled Iruka. He always had a soft spot for the boy, considering they were both orphans, and didn't care about Naruto's tenant. Naruto had realized this and early on developed a bond with the scarred Chunin, almost seeing him like a brother. He always went out of his way to help him, treated him to ramen, gave him advice. The other teachers pretty much ignored the blonde, which was fine by him. He didn't need their help anyway. Iruka was all he needed at the academy.

"Alright, Iruka Sensei." Said Naruto, and proceeded to do the 3 techniques, replacing the Bushins with Kage Bunshins, because why not?

"Very good. Here is your forehead protector." handing Naruto one set in black cloth. "This, along with your exam grades means you are Rookie of the Year! Report back on Monday for your sensei assignment."

"Thank you and will do." said Naruto as he tied the cloth tightly to his forehead. He walked out of the room and decided to head home. On the way, he ran into Sakura, a pink haired girl from his class.

"Hey Sakura." he said. "How'd you do on the graduation exams?"

Said girl looked over, surprised. Naruto never talked much at the academy, much less to her. "Hey. I passed, nothing challenging. How'd you do?"

"Rookie of the Year." he chuckled and continued home.

"Wow" she thought. "He did better than Sasuke. I know he always did well the academy but to actually have beat Sasuke-kun, and all the other clan heirs..." she trailed off.

XXX Naruto's home.

Naruto had just finished a meal consisting of onigiri when the bracelet Jiraiya had given him 2 years ago started glowing. "Hmm..guess the pervert is back again. Might as well go see him."

XXX

"Hey there, brat." said the Sannin, sitting under a tree at their usual training ground.

"What's up Ero-Sennin?"

"How many times have I told you to not call me that?" griped the man.

"A lot" grinned Naruto. "Stop being a pervert and I'll stop."

"It's for research, how else would I write my utter masterpieces?" he muttered with a faraway look in his eyes.

"Anyway, what'd you call me for?" deadpanned the blonde.

"Don't you think I'd hear my apprentice graduated at the top of his class filled with clan heirs? I wanted to congratulate you...and give you a little something."

"...Thank you, Jiraiya-sensei." smiled Naruto. After enduring hardships during his childhood and never really having received many gifts, he was grateful. He was coming to realize having a few special bonds was all he needed. As long as he had that, he could endure anything.

The Toad Sage pulled out a storage scroll and unsealed it. Out popped a Katana, with about a 24-inch, pitch blade blade that gleamed in the afternoon sun. It had a circular, spiral handguard with a black handle as well, with streaks of purple under the wrap, giving it a menacing appearance. "This..is for you. You've worked hard and you deserve it. The blade is special chakra conductive metal, you increase it's cutting power when you channel your chakra through it. Even more so when it's elemental, but you're not ready for that...yet." finished Jiraiya.

"Holy shit…" said Naruto with stars in his eyes "Thank you so much. This is the coolest thing ever!" He cheered childishly. "I'm going to be such a badass." he finished.

"Alright, alright. Here's something better." He bit his thumb and sped through some hand seals. "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" and out of the smoke popped out a Toad as large as Jiraiya, with armor on its body and a large sword strapped to its back.

"This is Gama. He's quite the Kenjutsu toad, and he's going to help you start learning that sword. We'll get you specialized training in the future, but this will more than make you proficient."

"Hey Gama!" shouted the blonde and the toad nodded before speaking.

"We have a few days before you meet your sensei so let's make the most of this time. Make a few shadow clones to observe your training so you can better visualize your mistakes when I point them out. This will improve your stance and katas."

The blonde nodded and they got to work with Jiraiya chiming in every now and then.

XXX

Monday morning rolled by and Naruto signed and rolled out of bed. "That stupid toad is a slave-driver.." even with his healing and stamina, the toad managed literally beat the basics and even some more proficient maneuvers into the blonde in the span of a couple days. Thankfully he was a quick learner and picked up on more than the Toad Sage and his summon thought he would, and he was well onto the road of the blade.

He changed into his Shinobi outfit, now complete with the sword he got strapped to his side. The sheath was as black as the blade, which he found awesome. He made his way to the academy and took a seat in the classroom.

"Hey Naruto" said a voice and he looked to the side and Kiba was standing there. "Cool sword man, where'd you get it? Can I see it?" Everyone overheard and looked over curiously, seeing that Naruto indeed had a sword with him. They wanted to see as well. It even piqued the Uchiha's interest. "A sword?" thought Sasuke. "I'd be better at wielding it than he would. Hn."

Naruto didn't see the damage, so he stood and slowly unsheathed the blade with the satisfying sound of metal on metal. He held the black blade in front of him.

"Wow" "Damn" "Holy shit" was the general consensus of the classroom.

Kiba spoke up again "Dude that's badass. Who gave it to you?"

"Ero-senn-" he started "Er..Jiraiya. He's been training me for a few years now and gave it to me for graduating..at the top" he smirked.

Now Sasuke spoke up "Don't get a big head, loser. We all know i'm better than you. You got lucky." Then he thought "Wait..Jiraiya the Sannin? I deserve that training not him. He's a nobody."

"Oh yeah? Said the blonde. "How many times did I kick your ass in spars?"

"Hn. Luck. I bet I could beat you if we went again." he spoke through gritted teeth. He had to defend his pride. He couldn't let a clanless loser show him up.

Everyone tensed, thinking there was going to be a fight. Sasuke was no slouch and even though Naruto did always come out on top, they always went all in during a spar.

"Naruto!" shouted Ino Yamanaka "Leave Sasuke alone! We all know he's better than you. Right Sakura?"

"Y-yeah.." Sakura said weakly. She did have a huge crush on Sasuke but was a smart girl. She knew Naruto was stronger than all of them, but she couldn't let Sasuke think she didn't support him.

Naruto turned around and shot them a look, his normally ocean blue eyes turning ice cold and freezing them both. He said nothing and it was at that point Iruka walked in.

"Alright, everyone. Enough. We'll start on your sensei assignments. Naruto, Sasuke, sit down." ordered Iruka.

Both grudgingly complied and Iruka started. "Team 10! Sensei Asuma Sarutobi. Ino Yamanaka. Choji Akimichi. Shikamaru Nara. Choji was glad to have Shikamaru on his team. He was one of his true friends. Shikamaru was happy with Choji was well, but then looked over at Ino raging about how "Sasuke-kun" wasn't on their team. "Troublesome." he muttered.

"Team 8! Sensei Kurenai Yuhi. Kiba Inuzuka, Shino Aburame and Hinata Hyuga. Shino looked quite indifferent..although he always looked like that. Kiba was just thinking about how much ass he's going to kick now that he was a genin. Hinata was slightly disappointed she wouldn't get to work with Naruto but had no problems with her teammates.

Finally "Team 7..Sasuke Uchiha, Sakura Haruno and at this point the girl stood up and cheered "True love wins! Screw you Ino!" She yelled, pointing at the platinum blonde, who in return shot her a death glare. Iruka sighed and continued " and Naruto Uzumaki." Said blonde sighed and the Uchiha grunted. Sakura sweat dropped and thought "Fuck. Those two are going to kill each other."

Shortly after, the Jonin Sensei's started shuffling in. "Team 10!" Called a bearded man wearing the standard Jonin outfit, with a sash at his waist with the Kanji for Fire. The kids walked out behind him. After that a beautiful woman with startlingly red eyes walked. She was wearing some kind of dress with bandages wrapped all around her arm and leg. "Team 8." and the 3 followed her out. Team 7 remained. And waited. And waited...and finally waited some more. It was at this point that Sakura started yelling. "WHY IS HE SO LATE? ISN'T HE SUPPOSED TO BE A JONIN?" While both Naruto and Sasuke cringed, they nodded in agreement.

After what seemed like an eternity, a man in the standard Konoha Jonin outfit walked in. He had silver hair and his headband pulled down over his eye, along with a mask covering the bottom half of his face. He studied the soon to be genin and thought. "So I get Minato-sensei's son..and Itachi's younger brother." He turned to Sakura and before he could speak a word, she yelled again "WHY THE HELL WERE YOU SO LATE?" Kakashi simply eye smiled and said "Sorry, I overslept. Anyway, meet me at the roof in 5 minutes. He disappeared in a swirl of leaves. All 3 sweatdropped before getting up. But before they could start walking, Naruto made a half-tiger seal and disappeared in his own swirl. Sakura looked over at Sasuke who grunted in annoyance.

XXX

They convened on the roof and sat in front of Kakashi. Naruto stared at him curiously, he knew the man from Jiraiya's stories. He was taught by his dad, and Kakashi knew who he was as well. Sasuke stared at him arrogantly and thought "This is a Jonin..he doesn't seem like much." Sakura, on the other hand was sneaking glances at Sasuke. "I hope Sasuke and I can get close" she thought.

Kakashi spoke up. "Well, why don't we do introductions. I'll start. I'm Kakashi Hatake. I like dogs, books and masks. I dislike traitors. I have many hobbies and my dream is to honor my friends wishes. Now you guys."

"Hn. Sasuke Uchiha. I like to train. I dislike many things. I don't have a dream. I have a goal. I will restore my clan and...annihilate a certain someone.

"Sakura Haruno, I like..well what I like is.." she giggled and looked over at Sasuke. I don't like Ino-pig! And my dream is…" she giggled again and looked over again. Everyone sweatdropped.

"I'm Naruto Uzumaki-Na.." he stopped. Kakashi looked at him with a slightly wider eye but Naruto smoothly continued. "I like training, Kenjutsu and Fuinjutsu." I dislike people who judge based on appearances or things out of their control. My dream is to have everyone acknowledge me and become Hokage, of course." He grinned. Kakashi looked at him again. "Well that answers that. He knows. I'll have to talk with him privately." He thought.

"Alright" he grunted standing up. "Meet tomorrow at training ground 7. 7 am. Don't eat breakfast, you might throw up from the training. Naruto, stay back for a sec."

Naruto nodded and Sasuke stood up, eyeing them. He shrugged and stalked off to train his Katon jutsu. Sakura tried to get his attention but he simply roof hopped away, leaving her dejected. She walked off with a cloud over her head. When they were gone, Kakashi was about to open his mouth when Naruto said "I recognize you. You're the one of Anbu who would protect me from the villagers when I was younger, correct?" looking at him with calculating eyes. Kakashi eye smiled and said "Well I couldn't let them hurt Minato-sensei's and Kushina Senpai's precious son, right?"

Naruto nodded. "I heard about you from Jiraiya as well...Thank you, Kakashi-sensei." he said wholeheartedly. "Can you tell me more about them? I hear from Jiraiya and Sandiame-jji, but you were with him on missions!"

"Of course, Naruto." After a while, Kakashi stood up again. "Well, I have some things to take care of for tomorrow, so i'll see you then."

Right before he shunshined away, Naruto said "By the way, I'm eating breakfast. I know what you have in store." with a glimmer in his eyes. Kakashi chuckled and was gone. Naruto then sighed and went to walk home, thinking " I know he values teamwork and comrades above all else...How can I get the arrogant prick and the fangirl to work with me…?" he pondered all the way home. "Mmm...Might as well go train with my sword. I'll think better after I train." With that, he disappeared as well.

 **XXX**

 **2nd chapter. Next time, the bell test. Any input would be appreciated. Aside from Naruto's more mature personality, the story will start to deviate more soon. Thanks for reading!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3! Thank you to those who read, i'll try to keep em comin!**

 **XXX**

Morning came and although Naruto worked himself to the bone yesterday, he woke up good as new. He ate a big breakfast, knowing Kakashi told them to not eat so they would suffer during the test. He geared up and headed to the training ground at 8:30 am, figuring Kakashi was always 2 hours late, meaning he'd be there around 9 am. As he arrived, he saw Sakura and Sasuke sitting by the training posts. She pointed an accusatory finger and shouted "YOU'RE LATE!" to which Naruto replied "Kakashi is 2 hours late to everything. I had sense to make up for his lack of punctuality." She blinked and stuttered "B-but.." and let it drop. Even Sasuke managed a small scoff.

Naruto walked up, sat down and looked at them both. He sighed and said "Alright, I know both of you don't like me very much bu-" but Sakura interrupted "Who said we didn't like you? You pretty much never spoke to us in the academy. I don't have any problem with you. We both know you're a skilled ninja." Sasuke then begrudgingly grunted "Hn." which was as close as he'd get to saying he agreed with her. "Huh" he started. "I figured you, along with everyone else hated me. All the villagers do." "They do?" she asked and even Sasuke thought. "Why?" Naruto hesitated and finally said "It's not something I can discuss freely...but anyway! I know what we're doing today" he said, trying to divert the topic. They both shrugged, figuring they would question him later.

"What?" Sakura asked.

"This test involves us trying to steal bells from Kakashi, but the catch is he only has 2, inciting us to work against each other to be the one to secure a bell, under the guise of who doesn't get a bell gets sent back to the academy." Sasuke stiffened. He knew if he didn't get this information, he immediately would've left his teammates and tried himself. "But," Naruto continued "if we show we can work together, we can pass. Kakashi values teamwork and having your comrades back above most else. Now, I'm guessing you guys didn't eat. That was just a trick on sensei's part." He pulled a small scroll out of his pouch and unsealed 2 ration bars. "Here, eat these and lets discuss some strategies"

Sasuke and Sakura both blinked. They hadn't really expected the blonde to act like this. Both couldn't argue against what he was saying or his relaxed but still serious tone. They agreed and started discussing amongst themselves.

Kakashi indeed arrived at 9:00 AM and Sakura and Naruto both shouted the accusatory "YOU'RE LATE...AGAIN!"

Their sensei chuckled before he said "Sorry I forgot we had this today."

Everyone sweatdropped before Kakashi pulled out out an alarm and 2 bells. "Whoever doesn't get a bell before noon fails...and goes back to the academy!" he stated cheerfully, waiting for a freak reaction. All 3 kids just smirked...and Kakashi sighed and though "Who told them...people always ruining my fun…"

He looked at them again before saying "Alright, begin!"

And all 3 poofed into smoke "Huh?" he thought. "No way those were real clones"

A ways away Naruto was hidden with Sasuke and Sakura beside him. He got the memory from his clone and said "It's exactly what I said, we have until noon. Let's do this!" before smashing his fist into his hand. "Let's go with the 1st strategy."

Kakashi had pulled out his book where they started, waiting for them to come with him as he intently read. A couple of shuriken came flying out of a bush, which he deftly caught before chuckling. Sasuke then pulled the ninja wire he had attached to the shuriken, causing Kakashi's wrist to become wrapped and pull taught thanks to the shuriken stuck in the tree. "Now! Naruto!" he said and Naruto shot out from the opposite side side and closed the distance in no time.

"Damn! He moves quick!" thought everyone before Naruto ran up to Kakashi and threw a low kick, forcing Kakashi to jump up, to which Naruto suddenly and very quickly planted a hand and threw and upwards kick. Kakashi blocked with his leg instead of dodged, due to the awkward position of being in the air. It was at this point Sasuke was out and jumped at him, trying to land an axe kick. He deftly grabbed Sasuke's ankle and tossed him forward, to which Sasuke flipped in the air and landed on his feet. Naruto jumped away and landed beside Sasuke, and it was at this point Sakura threw 2 kunai at the arm Kakashi had wrapped in the wire. "Not bad.." he thought. before eye smiling and simply yanked the shuriken and pulled them out of the tree. He pulled out a kunai and deflected Sakura's, in this time frame Naruto had already pulled his sword out and was attempting a downward slash on his shoulder. Faster than either boy could see, Kakashi pulled a 2nd kunai and held in an X-shape, blocked Naruto's sword. There was surprising strength behind the slash and Kakashi said "My, you sure move quickly Naruto." The blonde only grimaced, trying to push past Kakashi's kunai. The Jonin simply parried the sword and went to a forward thrust where Naruto's head was, and the boy simply tilted his to the side and let the strike barely miss him before seeing Sasuke moving to the other side of their sensei. He grinned and disappeared in a body flicker, off to the side of Sasuke, who had taken the time to toss 2 kunai...only quite off to the side of Kakashi. "Oh, seems your aim was a little off." Both boys kept quiet as another set of kunai came flying out of the bushes slightly more off to the side, thrown by a Naruto clone this time. They intercepted mid flight and sent Sasuke's original, which send them back towards Kakashi and with the sound of metal hitting...Wood? Kakashi disappeared in a puff of smoke revealing a log with the kunai stuck in it. Both tsk'd "A kawarimi."

Kakashi sat in the tree and thought "Hm..I expected them to attack me individually. That wasn't a half bad idea with the kunai and the wire at first..let's find Sakura. I don't need any more random kunai attacks. He sent a clone off to deal with her while he waited for Naruto and Sasuke's next move.

With clone: "Ah, there she is, remembering where the kunai came from. "She didn't even move after she threw them" he thought. "She didn't realize she gave away her position." He snuck up behind her, put his hand on her shoulder and cast a genjutsu. "Magen: Narakumi no Jutsu!" (Demonic Illusion: Hell Viewing Technique) Sakura quickly turned around with a slash of her kunai but Kakashi was already gone. She looked down and noticed the mangled body of Sasuke, with multiple slashes and burn marks, blood quickly pooling under him. At his side was a certain very bloody pitch black sword. She didn't even have time to scream, she simply slumped over, unconscious.

Naruto and Sasuke retreated into the bushes. "Well that worked well." grunted the Uchiha. "Well he's not an elite Jonin for nothing…" signed Naruto. Let me try something. I'll distract him and you get him with a Katon jutsu. I bet he doesn't know you have the chakra for it. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu" he whispered. Out poofed 12 clones. He had a clone draw his sword and got in the middle of all of them. He nodded and they shot out, with the rest a kunai in hand. Kakashi was waiting with an amused expression..as far as they could see with the stupid mask on. The clone with the sword jumped higher and over Kakashi, with the rest jumping for slashes. Kakashi simply parried all the kunai with his own, kicked them away and once he heard the poofing start, he turned in time to dodge Naruto's slash, again, sidestepping the blade quickly. He grabbed Naruto by the wrist and gave him a chop to the neck. "Now, now, enough of that." he said. To his surprise, Naruto poofed away. "Huh?" he thought. He had been tricked. He had a clone draw his sword and be the one to try the different maneuver, Kakashi thought that was the main one to attempt it. He barely had time to dodge the forward strike Naruto had attempted once he recovered from having a foot shoved in his gut. However, the slash was fast enough to cut Kakashi's mask and cut his cheek before he moved his head. The kid managed to cut him! Kakashi ducked, and kicked Naruto away again, who quickly blocked with the flat of his blade, but still got sent away. At this time Sasuke was already in the air and finished the last seal. "Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu!" (Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu) he shouted and Kakashi was wide eyed again. This brat distracted me enough to not give me the time to dodge! "Doton: Doryūheki!" (Earth Style: Mud Wall) shouted Kakashi and out came an earthen wall that handily blocked the fireball. Naruto took the time as Kakashi sped through his seals to make a single one of his own. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" A clone poofed into existence, who which Naruto grabbed and tossed at Kakashi's back just as the fireball was about to subside. The clone was shot forward, hand outstretched, reaching for a bell. The tip of his finger just barely came into contact with the bell before Kakashi slammed a quick chop to the back of his neck...Poof! He looked around again and Naruto and Sasuke were gone.

RIIIINGGGGG went the alarm. He stood up and said "Alright, times up."

 **XXX**

When Sakura came to, she was tied up to the post. She screamed, remembering what she saw. She looked to the side and saw Naruto and Sasuke sitting there, eyeing her curiously. She then looked over at Kakashi and shouted "WHAT'S THE BIG IDEA! WHY AM I TIED UP?" Kakashi eye smiled and said "Well Sakura, you let me sneak up on you, and you failed to recognize a simple genjutsu. That was a nice trick with you deflecting his and Sasuke with the ninja wire, but not enough." He turned to Naruto and Sasuke. "Well, you two performed better than I thought. It seems you grasp the concept of working together. I'll give you all and Sakura another chance. Take 30 to eat. I'll be back soon. "BUT!" He quickly added "None for Sakura. She's tied up." He disappeared.

"I'm fine guys! The ration bar will hold me over!" she exclaimed before her stomach growled. It had been a few hours. Naruto and Sasuke sighed before each offering her both some of their lunches. "You need to be at full strength." said Sasuke. Naruto nodded. "We're going to try something with the 3 of us simultaneously when he comes back. Eat." The second she complied, there was a huge burst of smoke and out jumped Kakashi, eye wide open in anger and flaring his chakra dangerously Naruto and Sasuke quickly pulled out a kunai in a kneeled position with their arms crossed. "YOU GUYS!...Pass!" He laughed and they face faulted while Sakura was scared shitless. "WHAT!" Shouted the blonde. Kakashi raised an eyebrow "What?"

"How?" grunted the blonde, having felt the density of Kakashi's chakra, the complete 180 felt like a joke. Sasuke's eye was twitching. He hadn't felt that power since Itachi.

"Well...you guys had each others backs. Naruto and Sasuke worked together well, and included Sakura in a tactic. Normally each genin just run around by themselves. I already had a mind to pass you after the 2nd attempt, but offering food to Sakura is what did it. Remember this! In the ninja world, those who break the rules are trash. However! Those who abandon their comrades are worse than trash." He said firmly. They all blinked. There was passion in those words. "Meet tomorrow at the mission hall at 9. We're officially team 7!" He eye smiled and disappeared..again.

"He really likes doing that." said Sakura.

"Duh" grinned Naruto. "It's badass." He turned to Sasuke. "It was fun working with you. I think we may have started off on the wrong foot. Teammates?" He turned to Sakura as well. Sasuke thought "Well..he isn't as useless as I thought. Fine" and proceeded to simply nod. Sakura hesitated "I didn't even do much...but i'm a ninja now! I can't give up!" and firmly nodded as well. Naruto then made a half tiger sign and disappeared in a puff of smoke as well.

"Show off…" grunted Sakura before turning to Sasuke. "Do you want to g-"

Sasuke sighed and said "If you have time to bother me...you have time to train. You should try it, it helps." He then hopped away.

"Figures.." facefaulted Sakura before going home to rest.

 **XXX**

Hokage's office.

Sarutobi was stuck doing the task that was the bane of all Kages...paperwork. He read, signed and stamped a sheet before moving it to the finished pile, which never seemed to get any smaller. There was a knock on the door and he sighed, thankful for a little break. "Enter." he called and in walked Kakashi. Figuring he was going to report the results of his Genin test, he asked "How'd they do?"

"Well," he started "Sasuke and Naruto were impressive, to say the least. Despite not liking each other very much they were able to work together well, and came up with some decent strategies, one even including Sakura. I have to ask though, Naruto actually moves very fast, and he was impressive with his sword, even though I understand he just got it. How?"

"That would be me." said a new voice perched in the window.

"Jiraiya-Sama!" said Kakashi. "So you trained him?"

"Indeed I did. The boy is practically a genius. He learns quickly and he works himself to the bone everyday, and those shadow clones are a big help as well. But there's something else I wanted to tell you. Naruto will soon be in danger. There is a group called Akatsuki out there, made up of S-rank missing nins. They're after the tailed beasts. Aside from the fact Naruto wants to take the Namikaze name when he becomes Chunin, he's going to have Iwa on his ass as well. We just need to make sure he can handle himself, and with the progress he's made, I don't think we'll have many problems." finished the Toad Sage with a grin.

"Hmm, that is troubling news. I am surprised though, what made you decide to reveal his parents to him?" said Kakashi

The Hokage spoke up "We figured he'd use it as motivation. And he has. He knows to keep it a secret and has for a few years now. With Jiraiya over here deciding to train him when possible, it was something he could handle."

"I see." said Kakashi, satisfied. "Thank you for your time, Hokage-Sama, Jiraiya-Sama." he said as he bowed. He then walked out.

Jiraiya turned to Hiruzen and asked "How have those council meetings been going?"

The old Hokage sighed and said "The same as always. The civilians keep demanding he is incarcerated to "make sure the demon doesn't get out." Bunch of idiots. The clan heads all have no problem with him, they're shinobi along with him. The elders, especially Danzo, want him weaponized. It's a never ending headache. Thankfully, there's not much they can do. Civilians have no say in shinobi matters.

Jiraiya sighed "This goes against everything Minato wanted for Naruto. Well, we'll see how they react when they find out who he really is." he finished with a grin.

"Indeed." chuckled Hiruzen. With that, Jiraiya hopped out the window and went out to meet with Naruto at the training ground, already having alerted his bracelet.

XXX

"What's up Ero-Sennin!" shouted Naruto with a huge grin when he saw Jiraiya approach the training ground.

"Shut up, you damn brat." grumbled Jiraiya. "No respect for your elders."

Naruto grinned again and shrugged. "Elders who aren't sex-crazed."

"Anyway," started the pervert "I heard from Kakashi that he was impressed by your speed. Now that you're older and can work out your body more without affecting growth, I want you to make resistance seals. They'll gradually make you even faster. They're also less bulky than traditional weights, and can be deactivated much easier. Here's a sample, base them off of this. Start at 50 pounds."

Naruto nodded, took the seal, unsealed his own supplies and got to work studying with Jiraiya watching. "He sure picks up on these seals quickly." he thought. "I was nowhere near that fast at his age, and Sarutobi-sensei certainly wasn't no slouch in teaching."

A short while later Naruto stood up, applied them and activated them with a burst of chakra. "Woah" he slightly stumbled.

"Alright, now we spar! Make some shadow clones to go over and practice some more sword katas."

Naruto paled and weakly nodded. Jiraiya was always brutal in spars..oh this was going to be a fun rest of the day. At least he could go and get Ichiraku's later, in celebration of making Genin..okay that was an excuse, he'd go get ramen anyway."

A few hours later, a bruised and beaten Naruto dragged himself home, cleaned up and headed towards heaven. "Tomorrow," he thought "I get to start on cool ninja missions, finally!" he cheered. "YAATTAAA."

Jiraiya suddenly perked his head up "Oh..I should've told him he's only doing D-rank chores for a while...eh he'll be fine." as he went back to peeping...where else? The hot springs.

 **XXX**

 **Chapter 3 done! My 1st time writing a fight scene, I'm hoping it was entertaining at least. Please review!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4! I'm kind of surprised at the amount of interest of gotten, and I'm always open to suggestions so review and let me know what you think! Now onto my mediocre attempt at a chapter!**

 **XXX**

Naruto woke up with a groan. It had been 4 long weeks since his team had started "missions." They turned out to all be stupid chores or manual labor. The labor wasn't as bad, as it gave the resistance seals he made something to do. He increased the weight by a decent margin every week, as his body and muscles quickly grew acclimated to the increased strain. He had noticed a large increase to his speed after the 3rd week, and therefore got started on the more advanced katas in both his father's taijutsu style, and surprisingly Ero-Sennin had gave him scrolls with his mothers Kenjutsu style! The Whirlpool blade. He had mastered the basics from the toad summon and Jiraiya felt he was ready for a specific style. He was progressing nicely in both fronts, while refining his chakra control and basic stealth, trap making and other shinobi basics.

He got out of bed and went about his morning routine, stopping in front of the mirror. His face was losing the roundness it had to it, becoming a little more lean. His bangs hung an inch or so below his headband, and his eyes held that same dangerous blue sparkle of one of Konoha's most revered heroes. He had even grown, standing at about 5'0 tall. Even or taller than most of his classmates. Maybe having a diet that included more than ramen wasn't such a bad thing. He moved on and finally left his apartment, going to meet the team at training ground 7.

"Hey." He greeted with a small wave as Sasuke and Sakura were already there. Sasuke nodded back and Sakura said "Hi" as well. Since the bell test, they all accepted each other as teammates at least. It was a little more difficult with Sasuke, as the boy would get incredibly jealous when Naruto performed better than he did, and he would push himself to try harder. They waited around a little bit for Kakashi, who finally showed up...late as always, but they were used to it, they didn't comment on it anymore..much.

"Alright you all, today we're doing something a little different." Kakashi said. They all perked up, tired of the D-ranks already. "Tree climbing!" he eye smiled. Naruto face faulted and Sakura and Sasuke sweat dropped. Naruto already knew were this was going. "We can already climb trees Kakashi sensei!" she protested.

"Ah ah" he said. "No hands."

"How?" Sakura asked and Sasuke remained quiet, but curious as well.

Before Kakashi could answer, Naruto piped up. "Like this." and he proceeded to calmly walk up the nearest tree and climbed to the top, with his chakra of course.

Kakashi chuckled. "Well..I figured you already knew how to do this." He paused. "What about water walking?"

"Not a problem." grinned Naruto.

Down below Sasuke was glaring at him. The dobe kept surprising him, there was no way he was going to let him get ahead of him. He turned to Kakashi "How do you do it?"

"Send some chakra to your feet, hold it and get a running start towards the tree. Use a kunai to mark your progress."

Sakura and Sasuke both nodded. Sasuke proceeded to attempt it, only to be blown back after a few feet. "Damn" he thought. "Too much and you get pushed back..too little and you probably won't stick."

"Hey! This is easy!" yelled out Sakura. He looked up and saw her sitting on a branch up in the tree.

"Hmm..Sakura you have great control over your chakra. But your reserve are severely lacking. Walk up and down 10 times, take a break and start again. We have to try and build them up." said Kakashi.

Sasuke sighed. He had some work to do.

Kakashi spoke up again. "Naruto! How about we spar on the side of the tree?"

Naruto shrugged and said alright, but was thinking "Maybe I can kick Kakashi-sensei's ass for all the D-ranks he's made us do!" he chuckled evilly.

Needless to say, Kakashi didn't pull his punches and Naruto was the one who got thoroughly beat.

Sakura was able to walk up and down 7 times before she was low on chakra and had to take her break. Sasuke made it halfway up, more or less getting the hang of it.

"That's enough, guys." Kakashi spoke up. Take the rest of the day off and tomorrow meet at the river east of here. Dismissed." And again, was gone in the puff of smoke.

"Well," spoke up Naruto "what are you guys going to do now?"

Sakura wanted to head home, she was tired. Sasuke spoke up and said "Naruto, fight me."

"Don't you think you should try and finish the exercise?" Naruto responded.

Sasuke sighed in defeat...he wanted to kick the dobes ass but he had a point. "How about this, I'll stay and watch you for a little and see if I can help you out a little. You in?" said Naruto.

Sasuke thought about it, swallowed his pride and accepted. Sakura spoke up "I'll stay too...I need to build up my reserves like Kakashi-Sensei said."

Naruto nodded. The 3 of them continued for a few more hours, and Sasuke finally made it all the way up, and Sakura tried hard to go for as long as she could.

"Good job guys," said the blonde. "I'm guessing tomorrow we learn to water walk. Same concept, but you release a steady stream of chakra to keep you afloat. Not much harder. Anyway, i'll see you tomorrow." And walked away. Sakura and Sasuke parted ways as well.

 **XXX**

The next morning they all showed up late, knowing Kakashi's habit by now. As Naruto had said, they had to learn to water walk. Naruto asked Kakashi for a spar on top of the water, wanting to practice his Kenjutsu. Kakashi eye smiled, pulled out a kunai and appeared on the water surface. Naruto smirked and did the same, drawing his Katana.

Sakura managed to get the exercise right away as well, although she teetered dangerously. After a few minutes she stabilized and Kakashi made her exercise on the water's surface. Sasuke on the other hand fell in a few times before he got it, then proceeded to go over his taijutsu katas on the water's surface. But by this point he was soaked, prompting him to remove his shirt. Needless to say, Sakura lost concentration and fell through a few times. Kakashi had a good spar with Naruto, actually getting cut more than a few times when the blonde was too fast for him to Kawarimi. Naruto fared better than yesterday, although he had a few slash marks, and that was considering Kakashi just used a kunai. The cyclops-Jonin was good…

"Okay, tomorrow we meet at the mission hall at 8:00, and don't be late. We get our 1st C-rank tomorrow." said Kakashi.

"Alright!" cheered Naruto, and even Sasuke looked relieved. Finally, something to test himself out on. They parted ways in anticipation for tomorrow.

 **XXX**

They all arrived at 8, and surprisingly Kakashi was there before them. They decided not to comment, hoping as their Sensei might do this more regularly. They walked in, and saw the Hokage with 2 Chunin on either side of him, one being Iruka. Naruto smiled big and waved "Hey Jiji, Hey Iruka-Sensei!" and they smiled back.

"Team 7, requesting C-Rank mission." Kakashi spoke up. Both Hiruzen and Iruka raised their eyebrows.

"Don't you think it's too soon?" said Iruka.

"Nah, they all learned the water and tree exercise in a few days, and we've been doing D-Ranks for a month now. No time like the present." shrugged Kakashi.

Iruka nodded and the Hokage spoke up "Very well, here you are. C-rank mission providing protection to a bridge builder heading to Wave Country." he said as he handed Kakashi a scroll. "Send him in!" he shouted and in stumbled a stocky, middle aged man who appeared to be slightly drunk.

"I'm the super bridge builder, Tazuna. I except super protection until we reach my home." he mumbled.

Everyone sweatdropped. "Go pack for a 2-3 week trip and meet at the east gate. 1 hour." Said their Sensei. They nodded and Naruto shot Tazuna a look as they walked out. The man wouldn't make eye contact very long, but he attributed it to his inebriated state.

 **XXX**

An hour later they were prepared and at the gate and checked out with the guards. They travelled uneventfully for a while, with Kakashi making conversation with Naruto about some taijutsu style they wouldn't name. Sakura tried talking to Sasuke but he more or less only responded with "Hn."

Eventually, they came across a puddle, and everyone seemed to ignored it. They walked past it, and out of it rose 2 figures with claws on their hands and a chain between them. They dashed forward and wrapped Kakashi up in said chain,and pulled hard. Kakashi was ripped to shreds and Sakura screamed. Naruto got a hard look in his eyes, and before the brothers could turn their attention on anyone else, Naruto drew his Katana and channeled chakra into it. He then became a blur, dashing towards them and slashing the chain, before delivering a powerful roundhouse kick to Gōzu. He flew through the air, and impacted a tree rather painfully. Naruto however, was already in motion, blurred towards the tree and jabbed his Katana right through Gōzu's chest, killing him with a gurgle. He then turned and eyed Meizu, who stood in shock, as did everyone else at watching Naruto kill his brother, so easily. Sasuke then, not to be outdone, threw a few kunai at Meizu, only for the Missing-Nin to block it with his gauntlet. He then dashed towards Sakura, who was standing in front of Tazuna with a kunai. Kakashi then appeared out of the tree and delivered a chop to the ninja's neck, knocking him out and tying him up.

"Well Naruto, good job. You certainly were efficient." said Kakashi, surprised that Naruto killed the Chunin so quickly.

Naruto sweatdropped and said "Why'd you let them pretend to shred you?" he asked. Sasuke was busy brooding that Naruto hogged the spotlight, but was curious anyway. There was supposed to be no enemy ninja contact on C-Rank missions.

"They were after you, weren't they, Tazuna? This has been upgraded to a B-Rank at minimum. Explain yourself." Kakashi stated.

Tazuna sighed and started. "Our country has no money. I couldn't afford an expensive B-rank. Our country was taken over by the shipping magnate, Gato." He spat that last part with venom in his voice.

"Gato?" Sakura asked. "Who is he?"

"Gato, as I said is a shipping tycoon who came to our country promising to boost our economy. Instead, he created a monopoly with his underhand dealings and methods. He's draining us dry. The only thing he fears is the completion of the bridge. I didn't know what else to do."

Naruto spoke up "I say we continue. We can't abandon these people in their time of need. We are Shinobi, we can handle it."

Kakashi mulled this over and said "Alright, but next time, we are most likely going to face a Jonin level opponent."

Sasuke and Naruto had a determined look in their eyes while Sakura flinched. Tazuna, on the other hand, had mental tears streaming down his face "Thank God…" he muttered.

 **XXX**

A country away, and short, chubby man was angry. "Looks like the Demon brothers failed." he sneered. "I thought you Mist ninja were good!"

A large, muscular man with bandages around the lower half of his face growled. "This time...I'll do it myself" he spoke in a deep voice. As he spoke he swung a massive sword, stopping it mere centimeters from the man's neck. "Watch how you speak to me as well."

The short man scrambled back "Uhh..just make sure you do your job!" he ordered, and left the room in a hurry."

The man spoke up again. "Let's go...Haku."

 **XXX**

The group finally reached the shores of the Land of Fire, here they would board the boat that would take them to the Land of Waves. They boarded and uneventfully rode towards their destination, although they were all on guard and on high alert. Whoever came next would be no pushover. They took turns keeping watch while they rested, they needed it. They arrived onto the mainland and were walking towards Tazuna's house when Naruto sensed something. He threw a kunai into the bush, surprising everyone...and it turned out to be a rabbit.

"Naruto, you idiot! You scared me!" shouted Sakura.

"Wait," Sasuke exclaimed. "This rabbit is a snow hare, it's white, but it isn't winter.."

"EVERYONE DUCK!" Shouted Kakashi, and just as they did, an enormous sword sailed through where they were standing. As this looked up, there was a muscular man who appeared on the hilt. Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura immediately stood around Tazuna, Naruto with his sword and the others with kunai's.

"Well well, Kakashi of the Sharingan." said the man. "It's an honor to be able to kill you." he laughed.

"Zabuza..Momochi. Said Kakashi, lifting his headband, revealing a crimson eye with 3 black tomoe slowly revolving around the pupil.

"Sharingan?!" thought Sasuke. "That only appears in the Uchiha clan, could he be?" he glanced at Kakashi.

"It's an honor to be able to see the famous eye so early on." said Zabuza. "But what are children doing here? Pretending to be ninja. That blonde one even thinks he's a swordsman." he scoffed. "This won't take long at all."

He jumped down, grabbed his sword and swung at Kakashi, who quickly jumped back. He looked at the kids, and made 10 water clones. These should be more than enough, and proceeded to

attempt to cut down Kakashi.

The clones converged on the Genin and Naruto tensed. He released his resistance seals with a 'Kai!" and then disappeared, shocking everyone. He appeared in the middle of the clones and began cutting them down with quick, precise slashes. 2 of them separated, and tried to get Tazuna. Sasuke quickly jumped into action, and slashed one cross the chest, and quickly delivered a kick to the other after he ducked down, causing the clones sword to swing above him. They all dispersed.

"Nice sword work, brat." Said Zabuza, surprised. He didn't expect his clones to be taken care of so quickly. Regardless, he spoke "However, younger than you, I had already died my hands red. That's what it means to be a real Shinobi."

"The Kirigakure graduation exam." Muttered Kakashi.

"What's he talking about?" Asked the pink haired girl.

"Kirigakure has a graduation exam" started Kakashi "That fostered friendships. Then, in order to graduate, they pitted friend against friend and only whoever killed the other was allowed to graduate. However, the practice stopped when a child who wasn't even in the academy slaughtered an entire graduating class. That man is before us now."

Naruto and Sasuke narrowed their eyes and Sakura and Tazuna gasped.

"I can't afford to let this drag out." thought Kakashi. "This eye takes a lot out of me." He blurred towards Zabuza, ducked his sword slash and gave him a powerful kick that pushed him away from the water, he had heard about Zabuza's Suirō no Jutsu (Water Prison Jutsu) and wanted no part of it. He also didn't want Zabuza to set up his Kirigakure no Jutsu (Hidden Mist Jutsu) since that would complicate things even more. Zabuza growed and started speeding through the handsigns of Suiton: Daibakufu no Jutsu (Water Release: Great Waterfall Jutsu) but his mistake was doing it in plain view of Kakashi's Sharingan. Kakashi proceeded to speed through the handsigns first, and a great vortex of water rose up behind him, shocking Zabuza, who stopped halfway through his. The vortex proceed to slam into Zabuza, who got soaked before he was able to switch out with a Kawarimi. Zabuza then stood on a tree branch planning his next move when Kakashi suddenly appeared behind him and sped through some more seals. Raiton: Jibashi (Lightning Release: Electromagnetic Murder) he shouted. Waves of electricity shot from his hands and stuck Zabuza, who conducted the shock quite well thanks to him getting soaked moments before. Zabuza limply fell out of the tree, and Kakashi was about to jump down and finish him with a kunai when 2 senbon shot out of the trees and stuck Zabuza in the neck, killing him.

"Thank you" said a new voice. "I had been hunting Zabuza for months now and you all provided the perfect opportunity to take him down."

"Ah, you just be a Kirigakure hunter-nin " said Kakashi, pulling his headband back over his eye."

"Yes, sir" he said, picking up the body. But before anyone could react, Naruto threw 3 shuriken, which embedded themselves in the leg of the hunter nin, who quickly made half a tiger sign and disappeared in a swirl of leaves.

"Naruto!" screeched Sakura. " What was that for! He was the good guy!"

"No.." said Naruto. "In one of the books Ero-Sennin made me read, I learned that Kirigakure Hunter-Nins dispose of the body where it falls, taking only the head as proof. He also used senbon, which have a low probability to kill...that guy was Zabuza's ally. Zabuza is still alive." He finished with a grim expression.

"Ah..it's true." Kakashi said. "Good catch Naruto. Well, we better continue on our way!" He took one step..and fell flat on his face. "Ugh, it's been a while since I've head to use the Sharingan for more than a moment. My body isn't used to the strain. Mind helping?" He chuckled.

Sasuke picked him up and said "Kakashi, where did you get that eye?"

"We'll discuss this later, Sasuke. For now, let's just get going.

 **XXX**

They all arrived and got settled in at Tazuna's, meeting his beautiful daughter Tsumani and his grandson, Inari, who was a moody and foul tempered little boy. They discussed the probability of Zabuza being alive and having help, which was high. Sasuke questioned Kakashi about his eye, and it was there Sasuke realized that his Sensei held more hurt and loss than he had ever imagined. Naruto would train in the woods after he and his clones guarded/helped Tazuna build the bridge. 2 days before Kakashi would be back to full strength, Naruto pushed himself too far fighting a large amount of clones, and fell asleep exhausted in the woods. A figure came along picking herbs, and spotted him there asleep. They approached, reached out and shook him awake.

"Hey!" Said the voice. "You'll catch a cold sleeping out here."

"Ah" Said Naruto. He opened his eyes and saw what he considered a very pretty young woman looking down at him. " Don't worry, I almost never get sick!" He smiled widely, making the young woman blush and look away.

"So what are you doing out here?" she asked.

"Well, I'm training!" Naruto exclaimed.

"Ah, so you're a Shinobi. Do you have someone precious?"

Naruto mulled for a moment before confidently saying "Absolutely. My parents & sensei's."

"Then you will grow strong." she smiled. She stood up and before walking away, she said "By the way, I'm a boy."

Naruto scoffed "And I'm the Shinigami. You aren't fooling anyone." He winked at her. She blushed again and proceeded to walk away. Naruto then narrowed his eyes slightly. She took a step that had a slight limp. He hopped onto a tree and went back to Tazuna's home.

Upon arriving, everyone looked at him weirdly.

"Where were you, loser? We thought you ran away." Sasuke scoffed.

"Nah," replied the blonde Genin "I was killing 200 of my clones."

Sasuke sighed. It was easier to make fun of him back in the academy.

"You're all going to die" said a small voice. "Your training is for nothing, Gato will kill all of you."

Naruto clenched his fist, stood up and said "I already know about Kaiza. You're doing nothing to honor his memory. He'd be ashamed of a coward like you. You have no idea how good you have it. I grew up with not a DAMN thing. I was hated and ostracized. You know nothing kid. Grow up." He then walked out.

Everyone was quiet. Sakura spoke up "I..Is that true, Kakashi-Sensei?"

Kakashi sighed. "Yes, but it's much worse than he made it sound..Naruto has been through hell..but he doesn't give up. That's even more admirable in my eyes.

Inari had his eyes wide. That couldn't be true. He ran off to his room, he had a lot to think about.

Sasuke and Sakura were wide eyed. That kid knew real pain, the pain of being alone. He wasn't quiet in the academy because of arrogance. He was quiet, maybe because he was hurting. They had seen flashes of his real personality with him during their time as a team. How could he act like that, having endured so much? It gave them something to think about as well. It also had been a week since they fought Zabuza. He was coming, soon.

 **XXX**

 **That's a wrap. The action picks back up soon, but thanks for reading. Fav and review, please! Thanks!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Let's see if I can't pick up the action a bit in this chapter.**

 **XXX**

Team 7 was on the bridge standing guard. Zabuza was due back any day now, and you could somewhat feel the tension in the air. Naruto had left 10 shadow clones back at Tazuna's house, along with adding a sealing array onto any entrance of the bridge builders home. Anyone who's chakra wasn't included in the sealing array would get a nasty shock that had a high probability of stopping your heart, and at the very least knock you out cold for a few days. (A/N: Civilians have chakra was well, just aren't trained in how to utilize it. Tazuna's family is free to come and go.) They were protected. Then, almost as if on cue, a thick fog began rolling into the area.

"Alright guys, extend your chakra to your senses and outwards. Be as alert as possible." warned Kakashi.

"Heh, I underestimated you and your brats last time. Not now. You can't copy me with that damned eye if you can't see me." cackled Zabuza.

Off to the side, where the mist was thinner, Sasuke and Naruto found themselves facing the same Hunter-Nin from about a week ago. Sakura was further back with 3 of Naruto's clones, flanking Tazuna at all sides.

"It's you..." grumbled Sasuke. "Tricking us with that act. I hate people like that."

"I am sorry." stated Haku. "But I needed to protect my precious person."

Naruto's eyes widened. "So Zabuza is your precious person? Why?"

"Yes." She answered. "He saved me when I had absolutely no one. Therefore, if you do not stand down, I will have to kill you. I do not want to do that."

"As is you could." scoffed Sasuke. He leapt up and threw a volley of shuriken, who Haku nimbly deflected with her own senbon.

"Very well." she replied. She ran through some handsigns and said "Sensatsu Suishō'!" (Thousand Flying Water Needles of Death!)

Sasuke channelled chakra into his legs and leapt up, while Naruto just had the natural speed to evade it. He knew Sasuke wanted the opportunity to fight, seeing as he didn't do much their 1st encounter. He knew it was burning him up.

Sasuke leapt up again and sped through his own handsigns. "Katon: Hōsenka no Jutsu! (Fire Release: Phoenix Sage Flower Jutsu!) and spit out small fireballs, which he embedded kunai into. They shot towards Haku at increased speed and force, who simply narrowed her eyes behind her mask and shouted "Suiton: Suijinheki!" (Water Release: Water Formation Wall!) and a solid wall of water shot up around Haku, extinguishing the fireballs, but she didn't expect the kunai, and one grazed her arm and the other her calf.

"Ugh," she thought. "This kid isn't half bad...and I've yet to see what the other can do. I need to finish this quickly."

Back with Zabuza, Kakashi had already blocked a couple of deadly strikes from Zabuza, his experience as a Shinobi was his saving grace. "I need a Fūton jutsu right about now. My wind affinity is non-existent but let's see what this does. "Fūton: Daitoppa!" (Wind Release: Great Breakthrough) he muttered and blew out a gust of wind around him that slightly cleared the fog. He spotted Zabuza standing a couple of meters away. "There!" he mentally shouted, and pushing Chakra into his legs to dash towards Zabuza as fast as he could. He swiped with his kunai right where Zabuza's neck is..or was, as Zabuza ducked down last minute, crouched, and began to swing his massive Kubikiribōchō, and cleaved right through Kakashi. Kakashi had a moment to prepare and Kawarimi'd with a quick clone, who puffed into smoke, he then delivered a strong roundhouse kick into Zabuza's ribs who grunted, and hopped away.

'Nice Try..Kakashi." The mist began to thicken again.

'Damn." thought Kakashi. I can't keep using Fūton jutsu, It'll drain me too quickly…" he was broken out of his musings when a sudden

chill was felt through the air. "What is this?" he muttered.

"Heh, seem's Haku is getting serious. Those brats are as good as dead. Haku is special, blessed with a kekkei genkai. Hyōton." Mocked Zabuza.

"Naruto...Sasuke. Be careful." thought Kakashi.

 **XXX**

"Let's get this over with." Said Haku. "Makyō Hyōshō!" (Demonic Mirroring Ice Crystals!) and suddenly 21 structures seemingly made out of ice appeared, surrounding the 2 Genin. Haku started appearing in each of the mirrors.

"I am sorry." She started. "This is my most powerful technique. You cannot win."

"A kekkei genkai..." muttered Naruto. He had heard of Kirigakure possessing ninja with special abilities.

"You've heard of this?" muttered Sasuke.

"Yes. The Hyōton of the Yuki clan. Regular fire can't melt these mirrors, conserve your chakra, Sasuke."

"Hn." grunted the Uchiha. Well there went that idea.

Suddenly, the pair was nailed by a barrage of senbon so quickly neither saw Haku move. They stood up from the assault looking

somewhat like pincushions.

"What the fuck was that?" swore Naruto. He had seen nothing of Haku moving. He drew his sword and channeled chakra into it, leaping at a mirror in an attempt to shatter it. It was then Haku jumped from one mirror to another, punching Naruto in the jaw in the process and knocking him back down. "Fuck." he swore again. Sasuke was trying to watch Haku, straining his eyes to keep up with her. He knew if he could see her, he had a better chance of at least attempting an attack. Naruto centered himself, held his Katana parallel to the ground and had a determined look in his eyes. He had to try and block the Senbon barrage. He had to. Sasuke pulled out 2 kunai, in the same thought process. Again, Haku sent a barrage towards them. Sasuke, mind racing, managed to deflect about half, eyes wide open. He felt a strange sensation in his eyes, like chakra pooling towards the area. His vision grew fuzzy, then sharpened immensely. Haku tried again, seeing as both Genin managed to deflect some of her assault. With increased numbers, she threw her senbon with pinpoint accuracy. Sasuke managed to deflect most, but winced when some managed to stab his abdomen.

"I can see!" he realized. "I can SEE!"

Naruto looked over at Sasuke and saw that he was significantly less injured than him. He did decent against Haku's first assault, but the subsequent ones overwhelmed him. He couldn't track so many needles flying that fast. "Your eyes, Sasuke." he groaned out.

"The Sharingan." muttered Haku. "So he possesses a special ability as well. I must act quickly."

She tried her assault again, Sasuke managing to stay on his feet, but Naruto collapsed onto his knees. "Dammit Naruto, I know you're better than this, stand up."

Naruto struggled, but stood up again. "Shut..up.." he panted.

"I have an idea." he whispered. "I can keep track of her movements. You try to attack her mirror with your sword, and I'll intercept when she tries to attack you."

"Alright." He said. Channelling chakra into his sword once more, Naruto leapt as fast as he could towards a mirror, Haku flew out again, and Sasuke fired as powerful of a Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu (Fire Release: Great Fireball Jutsu) slightly in front of where Haku was heading to strike Naruto and Haku could not get out of the way completely, and had her sleeve and hand burned because of it.

She hopped into her mirror and examined her hand. "Damn. I need to take out the blonde so I can focus completely on the Uchiha. Then, quicker than Naruto could react, she fired a volley aimed just at him. Sasuke saw it coming, and for some reason his body moved, and he shielded Naruto from the deadly needles. Naruto looked up in shock as Sasuke wavered, and Naruto caught him in his arms.

"Why?" he whispered.

"I..don't know. I moved on my own..Heh..you should see your face..loser."

" You hated me," muttered Naruto "yet you do this for me?"

"Shut up. I wasn't able to avenge my clan..I can't restore my legacy..you need to keep yours alive...Naruto." and his eyes fluttered closed.

"Is this your first time losing a comrade?" asked Haku, surprised the Uchiha took the blows for the blonde.

Naruto's hair hung over his eyes, concealing them.

 **XXX Naruto's mindscape.**

" **Heh...that's it. Channel your hatred. Utilize my power. Get your revenge and destroy her." rumbled a giant figure behind an enormous gate.**

"Kurama..that is enough." said a voice.

" **WHO DARES ENTER THIS MINDSCA-" He roared when he suddenly remembered the voice. "Fa-Father? How?" He asked.**

"Heh..when I seperated you all from the Jubi, I sealed a portion of my chakra within each of you. You, being a catalyst who I know can bring change to this world and create piece, received by far the largest portion." He said stepping into view. A tall man with spiky, shoulder-length, pale brown hair, with a chin-length, braided lock hanging in front of his left ear. He wore a white, full-length kimono with a pattern of six black magatama around a high collar, beneath which, he wore a necklace which was also made up of six black magatama. His eyes were the most startling feature, comprised of concentric, deep purple rings. "Peace," He started again. "Who I believe you can achieve with this jinchūriki. He possesses a pure heart and a determination like no other. I am going to transfer all of my chakra to him, including the chakra powering my eyes. You both will cause a revolution in this hatred-filled world."

" **Yes..father."** spoke Kurama truthfully. He knew the boy was aware of his existence, and would pull him in to speak soon.

The man nodded. "It was good seeing you again, Kurama. I wish you the best. With that, he exploded into a massive burst of chakra, and Kurama sensed the impact on the boys chakra coils.

" **Well, at the very least, this will be interesting**." chuckled the Kyuubi.

 **XXX**

Naruto suddenly felt a surge of inexplicable power. It coursed through him, seemingly reaching every part of his body. His eyes, especially, had an enormous pressure behind them. It suddenly subsided. He looked up at Haku, his face becoming visible. "Now...You Die." he calmly spoke

Haku looked down in shock, the boy released the most potent chakra she had ever felt. The chakra had felt stifling, suffocating. She could not even begin to understand what could possess power such as that.

 **XXX**

Elsewhere on the bridge, Zabuza and Kakashi both gasped.

"What the hell was that?" Shivered Zabuza. He was not rattled easily but that wave he felt...was not the power of a human.

"Could that be the seal breaking?" worried Kakashi…"No, I've felt the Kyuubi's chakra before. This was not that. Naruto.." he thought.

 **XXX**

Naruto now possessed those eyes. Purple rippled eyes at which Haku started at. She had never heard of such a thing. Naruto felt the surge of incredible power subside, although he could not explain it, he felt his eyes almost bursting with power. At that point, Haku tried another assault.

Naruto instinctually raised his hand, and the words "Shinra Tensei" crossed his mind. The barrage of needles were harmlessly repelled. "Deva Path" crossed his mind again. The words came naturally into his mind. He shouted this time, pouring chakra into his arm. "SHINRA TENSEI!" and in a burst of pure force, Haku was shot from the mirror and the dome exploded. Haku landed on her back, winded from the attack and fall. She could not comprehend what was happening. Then she heard the voice again. "Banshō Ten'in!" and felt herself actually be picked up, and shot towards where the blonde was standing, eyes staring at her, glowing purple. Naruto raised his fist, covered it in chakra, and when Haku was upon him, he released a thunderous punch that snapped her head back and shattered her mask, she flew away again, unconscious from the impact, and landed in a heap close enough for Zabuza and Kakashi to see.

"Haku!?" exclaimed Zabuza. There no way she could have been defeated.

Kakashi took this chance. He bit his thumb and raced through hand signs. "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" (Summoning Jutsu!) and out puffed his squad of Nin-Dogs. "You know what to do. Search for the scent of my blood!" The dogs nodded, shot out, and in moments, had the former Mist-Nin immobile.

"Ugh..I let my guard down." he groaned, and the mist disappeared.

"This is it, Zabuza. I'll give you the honor of witnessing my original technique as well." As he began his handsigns, he heard a voice call out.

"Kakashi-Sensei. I got it" said Naruto as he approached. From his hand extended a black, metal rod.

Kakashi was confused, how did Naruto make that? Until he looked into the blonde's eyes. He had heard the stories of the Sage. He heard of the Rinnegan. But he could not believe it. Naruto possessed those eyes, and he could feel the power coming off of him from his position.

The metal rod broke off, Naruto walked up to Zabuza and impaled Zabuza through the legs, created more and did so through his arms, shoulders and hands. "Release your summons." he said quietly.

Kakashi was skeptical, but did so.

"HAH!" shouted Zabuza. "You think these skinny metal rods can

hold me, I'll-!" and his words stopped. "I can't move!"

"My chakra is being run through those rods. You won't move until I remove them. This battle is over."

"Indeed it is!" Said another voice. The 2 Jonin and Genin looked up to see a short, chubby man with small sunglasses standing with about 40 thug behind him. "So much for Demon of the Hidden Mist, more like a demon baby!" All the thugs behind Gato laughed. He then eyed Haku laying on the bridge. "Such trash." He spat, then proceeded to kick her body.

Naruto and Kakashi looked on with horror, and Zabuza felt something inside his hardened heart. How dare this man treat Haku this way. He always maintained that Haku was nothing but a tool, but this was a lie. He raised her since she was a mere child.

"Kid, our battle is done," said Zabuza. " I had a feeling Gato would try to betray us. Can you remove your rods?"

Naruto nodded and waved his hand. The rods dissolved and Zabuza's chakra flowed normally again. He picked up his massive sword, cracked his neck, and aimed it at Gato. "Now you die, you worthless midget."

"Ahh...1 million Ryo to whoever kills him!" Squealed the Midget and ran back to the rear of the thug group.

"Ha. This is a warm up." Then an aura of chakra appeared around Zabuza, much like a Demon. The thugs hesitated and Zabuza charged. He dashed forward and in a true bloodbath, he made short work of every thug, literally slashing his way through each of them. Decapitations, bisecting, smashing with the side of the sword, each thug met his own brutal end. As the last guard fell, only Gato was left.

"Wait! He pleaded "I'll give you anything you want! Women! Money! Land! JUST DON'T KILL ME" shouted the man as he shit himself.

"Pathetic." Muttered Zabuza. Just then, an arrow came flying out of nowhere and impaled Gato in the neck. The short man gurgled, suffocating on his own blood behind tumbling off the unfinished bridge into the ocean below. Kisame-food. Everyone looked behind and it was Inari holding an arrow launcher.

"That was for my dad." Grinned Inari. The townspeople behind him cheered.

Zabuza went to check on Haku and found her unconscious.

"The town has been freed!" Cheered Tazuna, finally he would be able to work without fear, and pull his country's economy out of the gutter.

Naruto and Kakashi turned as Sakura walked up to them, she did a double take at Naruto's new feature before she asked "Where's Sasuke?"

Naruto closed his eyes and ducked his head, and Kakashi stayed silent.

"Wha..?" she muttered before looking around and spotting Sasuke's body laying on the bridge looking like a pincushion. She ran towards him yelling "SASUKE NO!" When she finally reached him, she laid on him and cried.

"...Sakura, get off. You're heavy." He groaned. He felt like he'd been asleep in a box 3 times too small, he felt cramped and hurt all over. She gasped and held him tighter, crying still, much to his annoyance.

Kakashi turned to Zabuza, who had picked up Haku. "Where will you go now?" asked the silver-haired Jonin.

"I dunno. I have a few secret bases. I'm done being a ninja for hire. I'll find a path." He muttered, thankful Haku was still alive. Kakashi nodded and watched as Zabuza walked away.

Kakashi turned to Naruto and was about to ask what happened, when Naruto started teetering, and Kakashi caught him before he could collapse.

 **XXX Naruto's Mindscape**

" **About time." Boomed a voice.**

"Where am I?" groaned Naruto, realizing he was in a sewer with a huge gate in front of him. He looked down at his reflection in the water, gasping when he saw his eyes. He then looked up as he saw the outline of another giant figure behind the bars. He took a deep breath and yelled "KYUUBI! WHAT DID YOU DO? YOU GOT ME SICK! MY EYES ARE GONNA FALL OUT!"

" **..."** The fox couldn't believe it. How was this kid so smart sometimes and a total idiot other? **"YOU IDIOT!"** He bellowed. **"LET ME EXPLAIN!"**

Naruto stopped flailing his arms and looked up at the fox, narrowing his eyes.

" **It was nothing I did. Are you familiar with the stories about the Sage of Six Paths?"**

Naruto nodded, remembering what Jiraiya..persuaded him to read.

" **Well, they are true. That man surprises me even after his death. When he created me and the other Biju from the Jubi, he sealed chakra within me. He chose the moment you saw your friend fall to come before me. He said he believes you will be one who will revolutionize the world, and he transferred his chakra to you, which is why you felt that surge of power."**

Naruto was speechless. The creator of Ninshu, the one who distributed chakra and defeated a primordial entity by sealing into himself thought that he, of all people, can change the world? It seemed too good to be true, but there he was with those purple eyes. He admitted they looked pretty badass, though. "Soo..am I like all powerful now or what?"

" **No, dumbass."** Sweatdropped the fox. **"You have no idea how to use your powers. Father's chakra was directing you in a way in your battle, and I can't tell you much about those eyes either. I do know that you will have every elemental affinity available to you. Also, I want you to know while I despise your pathetic race, Father believes in you, so I will, at least, not eat you. If you need chakra to get your dumbass out of a situation, tell me. Now leave, you're annoying. Oh, one more thing, cut the chakra flow to your eyes to deactivate them."**

 **XXX**

Naruto woke up with a start, remembering all the fox had said. "The Sage.." He though. "I'm a fucking badass." He grinned. He looked around and saw he was back in Tazuna's house. He got up and decided to go downstairs and saw everyone around the table. "Hey everyone." he greeted.

"Naruto-niisan!" shouted Inari, glad that his hero was awake.

"Well, hey there Naruto." Greeted Kakashi, as did everyone else.

Naruto sat down next to Sasuke. "Thank you, Sasuke." The Uchiha nodded. He still didn't fully understand why he saved Naruto, but he did do it, and everything worked out in the end.

Kakashi started at Naruto's blue eyes, wondering if he was hallucinating. Where did the Rinnegan go?

Naruto caught his sight and said "Yes, it's true. I'll explain back at the village."

Sasuke figured it had to do with the defeat of Haku, and Sakura remained pretty clueless, forgetting she actually saw Naruto's Rinnegan, choosing to stare at Sasuke instead.

"So where did Zabuza and Haku go?" asked Naruto.

"Who knows?" said Kakashi. "Zabuza was done with the mercenary work. Who knows where they'll end up."

 **XXX**

It was another week and a half before Tazuna and his crew (who had a large boost thanks to Naruto's clones. The time was spent between guard duty, Sasuke, Naruto and Sakura refining their chakra control, and Naruto privately nagging the fox to tell him about his "badass" eyes and trying to repel things away in the words with his "Deva Path." Poor trees. Finally the day came where Team 7 had to depart.

 **XXX**

"Be sure to visit!" shouted Inari, tears streaming down his face.

"You got it!" grinned Naruto. The kid really had grown into him in their time there,

"So Grandpa, what are you going to name the bridge now that it's done?" asked Inari.

"Well, why not after the hero who saved the wave? ME!" he grinned.

Tsunami sweatdropped and Inari face faulted "uhhh.."

"Fine, why not the Great Uzumaki bridge?" said the bridge builder.

 **XXX**

 **That's a wrap! Please review and let me know if it was trash or not. Thanks for reading!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Please review, it serves as motivation!**

 **XXX**

Naruto heaved a heavy sigh of relief as team 7 approached the village gates. He'd never been away from the village that long and it felt great to be back.

Sasuke shot Naruto another look. Kakashi and Naruto had been whispering back in Wave. He knew it was important from the sounds of their whispers, and he wanted to know what it was. He was satisfied with the mission though, he had finally awakened his Sharingan. He was one step closer to Itachi, to getting his revenge.

They walked through the village gates, Kakashi turned and said "Well, Naruto and I have to go give our report to the Hokage. Let's meet up tomorrow, same place, same time."

"Why both of you?" said Sasuke. "Isn't it usually the Jonin who gives the mission report?"

"Does this have to do with Naruto's eyes?" said Sakura innocently, remembering how he looked different on the bridge.

Sasuke's own eye twitched. Naruto's eyes? What's that mean?

Naruto sighed again. "Might as well let them come, Kakashi-sensei. They're going to find out eventually."

Kakashi just nodded. They reached the Hokage's office, entered and were surprised to see Jiraiya already there.

"Ero-Sennin! Hokage-Jiji!" greeted Naruto.

The Toad Pervert sighed. "I got your message, brat. This better be important."

The Hokage, after smiling at Naruto, spoke up. "Alright Kakashi, give me the rundown of your C turned A rank mission."

Kakashi recounted the events, stopping when it came to how Naruto defeated both Haku and Zabuza. He gestured Naruto to speak, and as he was about to, Sasuke spoke up instead.

"How'd you beat them both dobe?" He demanded.

"I'll get to that in a second." He muttered. The blonde then took a deep breath, closed his eyes and channeled chakra to his eyes. He felt the rush of power all over his body again, before opening them again. His normally blue eyes, were now deep purple, with a ringed pattern. Everyone could feel the power Naruto was exuding, and it was heavy. Everyone gasped.

Jiraiya was the first to clack his mouth shut. "Rinnegan…" he whispered.

The Hokage was awestruck. He had heard legends about the eye and could not believe it was in front of him.

Sasuke and Sakura visibly cringed when Naruto activated his eyes. "What?!" thought Sasuke. "He has a Dojutsu too?"

Naruto spoke again. "I..uh..spoke to my tenant and he explained everything. He told me that when he was created from the Juubi, the Sage sealed chakra in each of the Biju, and by far he got the largest piece. The Sage chose me, claiming I would be the one to bring great change to this world, and apparently transferred his chakra to me. This happened when Sasuke took the blow for me, and as I result I beat Zabuza and Haku both with this power." He finished, deactivating his eyes.

"Wait." muttered Sasuke. "Sage? Tenant? What the hell are you talking about?"

Jiraiya now spoke up. " The Sage of Six Paths. The man who created the precursor to Ninjutsu, Ninshu, a thousand years ago. He possessed those eyes, who were supposedly sent down from the heavens themselves. The most powerful Dojutsu to ever exist. As for the tenant…" he trailed off, looking at the Hokage.

The Sandaime sighed himself. "Naruto, if you want, you can tell him." He then looked pointedly at both Sakura and Sasuke. "Whatever is spoken in this office will not be uttered to another soul, unless you want to be severe conse. Is that clear?"

They both cringed again and nodded. Naruto spoke up again. "You both are aware of the Kyuubi attack 12 ½ years ago, correct?" They nodded. "Well, the Yondaime didn't kill it. You can't kill a Biju. It was sealed..into me."

Sakura was speechless and Sasuke narrowed his eyes. Naruto just became more and more interesting. They didn't hate him for it, however. He held back the beast that caused much suffering. They weren't dumb by any means and knew Naruto was just that, Naruto.

"Welp, Surprise!" grinned Naruto. "I'm officially a badass."

Sasuke grunted. He knew Naruto would be even harder to defeat now. Sakura was still trying to wrap her mind around the entire situation and couldn't say much.

"Well." said the Hokage. "Sakura and Sasuke are dismissed. Remember, S-Rank Secret." They nodded and left. He turned to Jiraiya and said "Like the boy you found in Ame? Right?"

"Yes, sensei." Jiraiya turned to Naruto. "I'll see if I can't teach you some things about those eyes. I'll be at your training grounds in the morning." He jumped out of the window.

Both Naruto and Kakashi bowed to the Sandiame. "Dismissed as well." They nodded and he gave Naruto a smile when the blonde looked back.

 **XXX**

Student and teacher went their separate ways, with Naruto wondering what to do. His stomach growled at that moment, and immediately, Ichiraku's became his destination. Upon walking into the stand, he yelled out "Hey, old man!" Teuchi turned, and saw his favorite customer.

"Naruto! It's been a while my boy. I thought you forgot about us." Said the ramen chef.

Naruto looked horrified. "Forget about ramen?! God Forbid!" He moaned loudly.

Teuchi chuckled and Ayame came out to see what the noise was. "Naruto!" She shouted herself. She began questioning him on how his missions have gone while Teuchi began preparing Naruto's ...large order. He was in the process of recounting the mission to Wave, explaining how he beat an A-Rank Missing Nin without mentioning his Rinnegan, when he heard a voice approaching.

"A-Rank?! Stop lying, dumbass!" shouted the voice. Naruto's eye twitched as he turned to face Team 8, specifically Kiba. The feral looking boy continued. "You just got lucky beating me at the academy! There's no way you could ever beat A-rank ninja!"

"K-Kiba...d-don't say that to N-Naruto. H-he's really s-strong." meekly commented Hinata.

"It indeed is unwise." stated Shino, stoically, of course.

"Ha! This loser won't do anythi-" He only got so far as Naruto decided to mess with the brash Inuzuka boy. He flared his chakra, directing most of it in Kiba's direction. The only warning he got was Akamaru jumping off of his head before the blast of chakra knocked him flat on his ass. Naruto then merely took a sip of ramen and chuckled. "You say something, dog-boy?"

"Wha? You little asshole, I oughta" He only got so far before Shino grabbed his ear and dragged him away. Hinata only muttered a quiet apology to Naruto, red the whole time, before hurrying away to catch her team. Naruto grinned and went back to another bowl.

"Huh" muttered Teuchi. "That boy has no filter, does he?"

"More like he was jealous." quipped Naruto. "He still can't wrap his head around the fact that a "clanless orphan" like me could be better than him." The blonde shrugged and went back to chatting with Ayame and enjoying his meal. From across the street, Ino Yamanaka stood and had watched the whole thing. "Huh...that was pretty cool." She mused. "Sasuke would've made it look cooler though!" She quickly corrected, then continued on her way.

Naruto finished eating and, at that point wanted nothing more than his own bed. He shunshined home, wanting to sleep as quickly as possible, since he was guessing Jiraiya would inflict some decent tortu-training...on him tomorrow. He collapsed on his simple mattress. He quickly escaped into unconsciousness.

 **XXX Naruto's Mindscape**

Naruto "woke up" again and was in front of the very large gate again. He looked up and stared at the fox, who only cracked an eye and closed it again.

" **What do you want?"** rumbled the fox.

"I just woke up and here I am! Don't be a dick, Kyuubi!" Shouted the blonde.

" **I have a name, you know."**

"Huh? Really? What is it?"

" **Kurama. I much rather be called that than simply Kyuubi."**

"Kurama, huh? Cool! Thanks for telling me!" Smiled Naruto.

" **Don't smile at me like that, you freak!"**

"..." Sweatdropped the blonde before he shouted again. "OI! I'm just trying to be nice to you!"

" **Why would you be nice to me? All you humans are the same, just wanting to control us for our powers."**

"I didn't ask for you to be sealed in me! Just like you didn't either! We're stuck with each other whether you like it or not. We have to deal with it." He paused. "Why did you attack the village though?"

" **If it was up to me, I would've stayed away from your little village. But I was being controlled."** Growled Kurama.

"Controlled? How?"

" **The accursed Sharingan!"** It growled. **"A masked man who claims he's Madara Uchiha. However, I know that...man's chakra signature. It wasn't Madara, but his eyes had similar power."**

"Masked man?" Gasped Naruto. "That's what Jiraiya said." He appeared to be in thought. "Well, he controlled you and attacked my village and parents. I say we kick his ass."

" **What are you getting at?"**

"Exactly what I said. I'll help you kick that guys ass, since you exactly can't do it yourself. He took my parents and took your freedom, on top of attacking my home. I'll help you out, Kurama." Smiled Naruto.

" **We'll see if you can keep your word...Until then, let me sleep you annoying brat."**

With that, Naruto was kicked out of his mindscape.

" **Brat."** rumbled Kurama.

 **XXX**

"That stupid fox is grumpy as hell." muttered Naruto.

" **I heard that."** Said a voice in his head.

"The hell?!" Said a surprised Naruto. "How can you hear me?"

" **I linked our senses last night. I see and hear most of what you do."**

"Who said you could do that?!"

" **Me. It gets boring in here. Now, stop complaining and go get ready to meet that pervert teacher of yours."**

With that, Naruto got ready and roof hopped his way to the training ground to meet Jiraiya, while grumbling about disrespectful foxes and boundaries. When he arrived, he was surprised to see the white haired pervert and Kakashi-sensei there.

"Hey, Naruto." Eye smiled the Jonin.

"Well, Naruto. I invited Kakashi because he could help you learn a part of elemental manipulation. As far as I know, that eye grants you a shared field of vision when you use clones, which will help you coordinate your attacks better if you decide to use them. They also allow you to learn every element." Stated Jiraiya, hopping right into it. "Activate your eyes, and channel chakra into this." And he handed Naruto a piece of chakra paper. "Fire burns the paper, water wets it, Earth crumbles it, Wind slices it, Lightning crinkles it."

Naruto did as instructed and the paper split into 5 sections, with each doing exactly what Jiraiya had said.

"There you go. I'll help you with Fire, Earth and Wind. Kakashi can do Lightning and Water. We'll give you a few jutsu of each when you get the manipulation down. For now, make 100 clones, but deactivate your eyes. You'll pass out if you see what they all see at once. You'll still be able to learn the elements. The real one with me, it's been a few weeks since I kicked your ass in a spar and you're due." Grinned the Toad Sage.

Kakashi and Naruto sweat dropped. "Alright Naruto, have each of your clones grab a leaf. You're going to channel your chakra into it, and the same that happened to the paper will happen to the leaf once you get the hang of it." Said Kakashi. "Let's go."

A few hours later, Naruto was making steady process. They continued, with every few hours Naruto dispelling clones as to not get overloaded with memory. Naruto also surprised Jiraiya with his speed in their spars, forcing the Sannin to take it more seriously. But, at the end of the day, Naruto was still thoroughly beat.

"Alright good work today! Same place and time tomorrow. You're going to show me what that eye can already do for you." said Jiraiya.

Naruto just groaned from his place on the ground. Jiraiya was an asshole in spars.

"Come on Naruto, I'll take you home." Said Kakashi as he placed the Genin on his back and shunshined to his apartment. He placed his student on his bed and looked down on him. "You'd definitely would be proud of him...Minato-Sensei...Kushina-Senpai." He said. With that, he left the apartment out of the window and went to get in some quality reading time.

 **XXX**

The next day, Naruto arrived at the training ground as Jiraiya did, with Kakashi nowhere in sight. He sighed. "I knew this on time thing wouldn't last." Muttered Naruto.

Jiraiya sweatdropped and shrugged. "You have the general idea of how to train in the elements, go ahead and make your 100 for that. For you, just show me what those eyes of yours can do." Naruto nodded and did as asked. He then activated his Rinnegan and held his palm up, and out sprouted a black rod, which stopped when he cut the chakra flow.

"Oho?" Said Jiraiya. "What does that do?"

"I think it's a type of chakra receiver, I stabbed Zabuza with them in Wave, and my chakra flowed into them and stopped Zabuza's movements. The more chakra I flow into them, the stronger they hold." Said the Blonde.

"Could you make a shorter one, like a kunai, and try to hit me in the arm? I want to see how strong your hold is." Asked Jiraiya.

"Ahh..sure." Said the blonde, but he just thought "masochist…" He made a smaller rod, and tossed it into Jiraiya's shoulder, who flinched. It started to channel chakra, and Jiraiya twitched again and tried to raise his arm. He started struggling, more and more but was making slow progress, until Naruto channelled more chakra, and Jiraiya froze in his tracks. "Heh..I g-guess that's t-hat…" stammered Jiraiya. Naruto removed the rod and Jiraiya flexed his shoulder. "Damn, I didn't expect that. Your chakra sure is something. What else?"

"This. Deva Path." Said the blonde, who raised his arm at a clearing of trees. "Shinra Tensei!" and immediately the clearing blew apart. Tree's were tossed far away, destroyed, it appeared as an enormous explosion ripped the clearing apart. Upon spotting a log laying in the clearing, Naruto raised his arm again and said " Banshō Ten'in!" Said log immediately shot towards them, which Naruto quickly slashed into 2 with his Katana before it could impact them. He turned to Jiraiya, who resembled a gaping fish. "Well?"

Jiraiya coughed and clacked his jaw shut. "Well, damn brat. You got some power behind those little attacks of yours. I'm sure that eye has more powers, though. I'm guessing you'll gain them with more time and experience. Alright, let's see how your shared field of vision does. Make 2 clones and do some tai and kenjutsu maneuvers, and as you get the feel for it, make a few more and so on."

They continued the day, again with Naruto dispelling the clones to gain his elemental knowledge. Upon sparring with Jiraiya with his eyes activated, he realized he could easily see chakra, and his perception and reaction time also increased. He realized it wasn't like the perception boost that the sharingan afforded, but it was still a noticeable boost in hand to hand combat. They continued training throughout the week and a half that Hiruzen gave them after their A rank. After the week passed, with Kakashi managing to show up, albeit very late, on 3 days that week to give Naruto pointers to improve his elemental chakra conversion. Naruto managed to get down Wind, Fire and Lightning manipulation to the point where he could use most jutsu's of those elements easily. He was still working on Earth and Water, those would follow soon after. As a result, he obtained a myriad of jutsu in all elements that he could use more than effectively. At the end of the break, Jiraiya sat down with Naruto and spoke in a serious voice.

"Alright, Naruto. You have to realize that we're only loading you with jutsu so you can protect yourself better. There are many many people who would love nothing more than to pluck those eyes out of your head, people in Konoha included. Don't use them unless you absolutely must. Your speed, nin, tai and kenjutsu are all low Jonin level, and that should be more enough. Heed my words." spoke the Toad Sage.

Naruto nodded, knowing there was truth in Jiraiya's words. " I gotcha, Jiraiya. But, I wanted to ask you something. You said before that the Rasengan is my dad's creation. Can you teach me it?"

Jiraiya laughed. "All in due time brat. I'm leaving for a few weeks, and you have the chunin exams coming up in a few weeks. Until then, you need some mission work to gauge yourself."

"I guess that's true. I have some ass to kick, somewhere. But first, I think I need some new clothes, huh?" laughed Naruto. His training always would get intense...and there goes his wardrobe.

"I guess you do." Mused Jiraiya. "Well, I gotta get going. See ya!" And there he went in a puff of smoke.

Naruto grumbled. He was hoping to get some free clothes from Jiraiya, but the man figured it out. He mumbled about good for nothing godfathers on his way to his favorite shinobi shop at the edge of town.

When he walked in, he saw a girl sitting behind the counter who had brown hair up in 2 buns. "Welcome!" She said.

"Hey there." Waved the blonde. "I was looking for some new clothes, have you guys gotten anything new in?"

"Sure!" She said. She led him to a corner of the store and there was a large selection of pants, shirts, jackets, flak jackets and other Shinobi gear. All the while though, she was eyeing the sword strapped at his side. She was obsessed with anything weapon related, and that black and purple hilt looked enticing. She returned to the desk and waited.

Naruto looked through the clothes and found a black zippered jacket with a slightly higher collar that flared slightly out, and reached up to slightly below his chin. He chose a few black and white V-necked shirts that would show some of his mesh armor he wore underneath. He got a few more pairs of the same black pants, but decided to get purple bandages to go around his ankles and around his pants. He took his items to the desk and smiled at the girl. "This is all."

She slightly blushed and began totaling his purchase.

Naruto spoke up again "Are you a ninja? I could swear that maybe I've seen you someplace."

"Yeah! I've been a Genin for a year now, this is my father's shop and I help out sometimes. I'm Tenten." She said.

"Naruto Uzumaki, I was in the year after you in the academy. Nice to meet you." He smiled again. He then paid for his items and before he could say his goodbye, she spoke up again.

"Hey I see your sword!? I'm sorry, this is random but I'm kind of a weapons specialist and yours looks interesting!"

"Sure." He unsheathed his sword and the pitch black blade still somehow gleamed dangerously indoors. Her eyes bugged out and inspected it closer.

"Where did you get this? I've never seen chakra metal of this quality!" She muttered, amazed.

"Jiraiya. He's been training me for a few years now."

"Of the Sannin!? Holy shit. We have to spar one of these days, I want to see what you can do." She grinned.

"You got it." He grinned back. "I'll see you around, Tenten."

She waved and went back to her thoughts, drooling about the sword and maybe even a certain blonde.

 **XXX**

The next day Naruto meet up with his team at the training grounds, ready to resume active duty. As always, they all arrived 2 hours after Kakashi told them to meet. "Yo." Greeted Naruto.

Sasuke and Sakura looked over and saw him in his new outfit, jacket open and black shirt underneath, and greeted him back. Their thoughts drifted back to the conversation back after returning from the wave, and what he contained. They both had decided that they didn't care, they were ninja and Naruto wasn't a bad person. He was a teammate who they were starting to consider a friend.

"What's with the new clothes Naruto?" Asked the pink haired girl.

"Well, Jiraiya likes kicking my ass. I needed new clothes." He said sheepishly.

"Hn." Grunted Sasuke. He remembered Naruto was being trained by a Sannin. He would need to step up his training and make Kakashi train him. And if in cue, Kakashi arrived.

"Ready for another mission guys?" He asked.

"Bring it on." Smirked Naruto.

They made their way to the Hokage tower, and into the mission hall. There was the Hokage himself, and he greeted them with a smile.

"Team 7 requesting a C-Rank Mission, Hokage-Sama."

He nodded and looked through the mission scrolls, selecting one. He looked at the 3 Genin and asked. "Do you all remember Mizuki?"

"The academy teacher?" They asked in unison.

The Hokage nodded. "He attempted to steal the villages forbidden scroll shortly after your graduations, but was caught and arrested. Turns out he escaped from our prison somehow. I'd like you all to retrieve him. Do you accept?" He asked, turning to Kakashi.

"Yes Hokage-Sama." Spoke up Kakashi. He turned to his team. "Go pack for about a week or so and meet at the south gate in an hour. See you then."

They all nodded, bowed to the Hokage, and left to prepare. "Another C-Rank. Good." Thought both the Uzumaki and the Uchiha."

 **XXX**

 **That's it! I'm considering putting up a poll to decide who Naruto ends up with in this story, let me know what you all think. Thanks for reading!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Been a while. Here's chapter 7.**

 **XXX**

 **(Flashback)**

A man with shoulder length silver hair was out in a prison yard, chiseling out rocks with a pickaxe. A whistle blew and he stood up straight and wiped his brow. All the prisoners then shuffled around to line up and return their tools. Upon reaching an inspection table with other tools on it, he spots a sharp screwdriver. Grinning maniacally, he discreetly swipes it and stores it in his sleeve before continuing to his cell.

In another part of the prison, 2 very tall and very fat men are laying in their cells, stuffing their faces with buns. Reaching for another one and not realizing they were gone, the man brought his hand up and bit his hand, hard.

"OUCH!" He looked down and said "BROTHER! We are out of food!"

The other brother, who had a goatee and a unibrow, was snapped out of a daze. "Oh. We are."

"I need food! I will starve without it!" And if on cue, his stomach rumbled unnaturally loud. "Wait!" He shouted. "I smell something delicious!" He then walked over to the bars, and without any effort bent the steel to allow a very large opening for him to step through. His brother followed curiously, wondering what did smell so good.

A few moments later, they arrived at the cell of the silver haired man, and he smiled and beckoned the brothers to join him. After they gave the bars the same treatment, the brothers sat happily eating another crate of buns.

"It was worth the risk, getting those buns, don't you think? Fuijin, Raijin? Said the man.

The brothers vigorously nodded, their mouths full.

" I can get you even more delicious food, if you come with me. The man who gave me my strength will surely reward you both as well."

"The man you told us about?" Asked Raijin.

"Yes...Orochimaru-Sama." He grinned wickedly again.

They proceeded to simply bust out of the prison in between guard shifts. They didn't want to attract attention from Konoha more than they had to, the silver- haired man had somewhere to be.

 **(Flashback End)**

Team 7 met up at the South Gate as Kakashi instructed them to, all 3 with a bag on their backs, but Naruto only had a few scrolls with his supplies sealed in there. Regardless, he still carried a slightly smaller bag so his pouches wouldn't be overfilled.

Kakashi appeared in a puff of smoke and nodded at his team. "Alright, the prison is a few hours away and Mizuki has a day or so head start on us. Let's check there first and then work out a strategy. Move out!"

They proceeded to run full speed, with Kakashi in the lead and Sasuke in the back with Naruto and Sakura on the sides, in a diamond formation. As Kakashi said, they arrived in the prison in 3 ½ hours, stopping once so Sakura could rest. Once they arrived, the Chunin guards led them to Mizuki's cell. Kakashi bit his thumb, quickly ran through his hand seals and said "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" (Summoning Jutsu!) and in a puff of smoke appeared a small pug with a blue Konoha headband on his head.

"Hey Kakashi. What do you need?" Said the dog in a deep voice.

"Pakkun. Could you please help us track some escaped prisoners? This is one of their cells."

"Prisoners?" Questioned Sakura. "I thought it was only Mizuki who escaped."

Kakashi shook his head. "Mizuki had help from Fuijin and Raijin. The legendary stupid brothers. Their strength and speed has almost no equal, but as the name suggests, well...they're stupid." He eye smiled.

They all sweatdropped and Pakkun just moved to the bed, sniffed a few times and nodded. "Alright, let's go outside and see if I can't find the trail and where these guys went."

 **XXX**

Mizuki was dropping his prison clothes and slipping on a grey vest with no sleeves, showing off his large arms and muscular body. Fuijin and Raijin were kneeling around a hot pot in another part of the house, happily waiting for it to be ready. A woman with dark eyes and long black hair which was braided down her back with jaw length bangs, framing either side of her face was kneeling near him.

"Mizuki…" She whispered. "Please...stop this. Don't go to Orochimaru. He will corrupt you."

Mizuki looked down at her gently. "Tsubaki. Don't worry. Orochimaru will give me the power I deserve, and with that power I can take revenge on those Konoha idiots who locked me up. Maybe if I kill the demon brat, they'll see me as a hero as well." He grinned, remembering all the times in the academy he tried to sabotage the Blonde Jinchuriki, but the boy avoided his efforts and succeeded in the academy anyway.

Tsubaki looked pained. Mizuki told her all about how evil the "demon trash" was but she had never heard much about him other than an occasional prank. How could that be evil? But she did know all about Orochimaru's crimes, and wondered how Mizuki's ideology could be so twisted.

Mizuki finished stocking up on food, he turned to the brothers who had just finished eating. "We're leaving. Go outside, I'll be right out. They nodded and walked out with satisfied grins on their faces. Mizuki then turned to Tsubaki again, but before he could say anything she ran towards him and hugged him tightly.

"Please Mizuki...stop this. You were such a sweet man. Do not go to Orochimaru, you know he only uses people as pawns. I'm begging you, please stay, for me." She cried. Mizuki only looked down on her calmly before he gave a quick chop to her neck, knocking her out.

"Pft, love. I have no need for that. Only power." He grinned wickedly as he walked out. He approached the brothers, who were standing there with stupid smiles on their faces. "We raid the Nara clan laboratory first. Orochimaru-Sama left the materials I need for my next level of power. Once I have that, we head to Otogakure. Got it?"

"Yes!" They said in unison. Then, with impressive speed they took off through the forest.

A few hours later, Team 7 arrived at Tsubaki's house on the far outskirts of Konoha. "They were here." Said Pakkun. They also left a few hours ago, but their scent is strong inside the house." Kakashi nodded. "Let's check it out. We may be able to find some clues. Let's make it quick." The 3 genin nodded and followed their sensei inside. Kakashi narrowed his eyes upon seeing a woman sprawled out on the floor. He approached her still body and crouched down. He placed a finger on her temple and sent out a quick pulse of chakra to attempt to wake her up. A few seconds later, the woman began stirring. Her eyes shot open and she quickly sat up, shouting "Mizuki…!" She then noticed Kakashi crouched next to her with a calm expression on his face.

"Ah, so you seem to know him." Said the Jonin. "Care to explain?"

Tsubaki hesitated. She didn't want to sell out her fiance. But he was heading down a dark path that was sure to end in disaster. Maybe the Konoha ninja could save him, or bring him to his senses. She wanted him back. "Mizuki is my fiance. He came here with 2 big men that looked very similar. He asked me for food and supplies. But...he mentioned Orochimaru. He believes Orochimaru will give him power to exact revenge on Konoha…" She trailed off.

"That's certainly alarming." Muttered Kakashi. "Orochimaru is more than likely just using Mizuki as a pawn. Do you know where he went?"

"No...I tried to persuade him to stay but he just knocked me unconscious." She trailed off.

Naruto listened intently. He always got a bad vibe from Mizuki at the academy and this only seemed to confirm his suspicions that he was a piece of shit human. Sasuke surprisingly was also a little perturbed. This woman obviously loved that man and he threw her away...kind of like someone else did. Sakura was appalled, she couldn't believe someone would treat his fiancee like that.

Kakashi stood up. "Let's move out. We need to make more haste now." Team 7 approached the door and Tsubaki shouted out "Please stop him...I want him back!"

Kakashi just eye-smiled again and called out as they left. "We'll catch him, don't worry."

 **XXX**

Mizuki and the brothers were on their way to a Nara clan lab in the middle of the clans part of the forest. Orochimaru had stashed some of the ingredients he needed to reach the level of power he had been promised. But he needed to be quick, he was sure Konoha had already sent a team after him. He was sure he could destroy them, but he wanted to be by Orochimaru-Sama's side as soon as possible. He turned to Fuijin and Raijin and nodded. They nodded back slowly and they picked up the pace, racing towards the Nara clan forest and within it, their lab.

 **XXX**

Pakkun landed deftly in the grass in front of a moderately sized building a kilometer or so inside of the Nara clan forest. Kakashi and his genin landed right behind him and the Jonin sighed when he saw the 2 Nara clan guards laying in the grass unconscious.

"So he was already here. I wonder what he would want from this lab? He has no affiliations with the Nara's." Said Kakashi.

"That woman mentioned Orochimaru when we asked about him. Maybe Orochimaru left something here for him." Said Sasuke.

"It's a possibility. Orochimaru often gives his pawns power through artificial means and this is a lab the snake can easily slither into. I'll send a message to Konoha to come treat these guards. Let's move out! Pakkun!" The dog nodded and they all leap into the trees again, following Mizuki's trail.

A few kilometers ahead in a rather large cave, Mizuki was busy pouring out the various liquids he would use to attain the next level of power he was promised. He poured the last vial of a black colored liquid into a table with various compartments with small floodgates. He pushed a button and the gates opened, and every liquid rushed towards a central canal, mixing, and then landing into a test tube.

"It is ready." Sighed Mizuki contentedly. He raised the tube to his mouth and drank the contents in one gulp, with Fuijin and Raijin curiously watching. He then sat down and closed his eyes. "Yes. I can feel myself getting stronger. If this keeps going, I will have no equal!" He cackled. He sat there a few moments more, basking in his own strength, when he felt a presence outside. "Ahh, so Konoha finally sent their backups. Let's go see who they sent."

Naruto, Sakura, Kakashi and Sasuke were crouched in a tree a couple of meters away from the cave. Pakkun had already been desummoned and Team 7 was about to devise a strategy when Kakashi shouted "Look out!"

The branch they were standing up shattered in an explosion, and Team 7 landed in a clearing where Mizuki and the stupid brothers stood. "Ah, Kyūbi. So nice to see you again." Grinned Mizuki crookedly. Naruto simply narrowed his eyes.

"Oh!" Shouted Fuijin. That one has pink hair! Kind of like cake frosting!" He said, pointing at Sakura. "Let's get her!"

"You are right! And that one has silver hair! They look funny. Yes! Let's get them!" Shouted Raijin. Kakashi and Sakura looked at each other and sweat dropped, before hopping away and the brothers jumping as well with speed that looked unnatural for their size.

Mizuki still stood there, grinning at Naruto. Suddenly, Naruto said "Sasuke, go with Kakashi. I can handle him on my own." Sasuke hesitantly looked at him, then suddenly nodded like he remembered something, and hopped away.

"So you don't want to have your friend see you die. How thoughtful." Chuckled Mizuki.

"I thought he'd be better use with our Sensei." Stated Naruto coldly. "I'll be done with you in no time." As he spoke, his eyes seemed to ice over and harden, turning into a freezing, unbreakable blue.

"Humph." Grunted Mizuki. "So the demon seems to think he is strong. I'll show you just how wrong you are. I'll kill you! Your friends! And lay waste to your village! Nothing can stop me now!" He shouted maniacally.

Naruto sighed, deactivating his seals and drawing his sword slowly, the black blade gleaming off the sun as menacingly as ever. He got into a ready stance, putting the weight on the balls of his feet, ready to spring into action. Mizuki simply grinned, only taking out one Kunai. "That sure is a nice sword." He mocked. "Maybe I'll present it to Orochimaru-Sama so he can add to his collection."

Naruto simply jumped forward, but much slower than he was capable of, to catch Mizuki off guard with his next attack. He brought his sword down in a straight swing, and Mizuki simply blocked, still being much stronger physically. Naruto then grinned and suddenly disappeared, before appearing behind Mizuki and kicking him in the back with a chakra enhanced kick, sending the man tumbling end over end for a few meters. "Maybe I don't need my sword." He thought, and resheathed it.

"So it seems you're not as helpless as I thought. Very well, let's see how long you last, Kyūbi." Mizuki then disappeared himself, before appearing in front of Naruto and sticking with a straight punch. Naruto brushed the fist aside before jumping up and coming down with an axe kick, which Mizuki was barely able to bring his arm up to block. The ground underneath him buckled, and the Ex-Chuunin took this opportunity to grab Naruto's ankle and tossed him towards a tree. The Genin simply flipped in midair and made his familiar cross-shaped hand seal and out poofed a clone behind him, with he used to kick off and stop his backwards momentum, landing deftly on the grass in a crouch. He then shot forward, appearing before Mizuki again and rearing his fist back, which became coated in Wind Chakra. "Fūton: Senpūken!" (Wind Release: Whirlwind Fist!) He shouted and stuck his opponent in his abdomen before he could react, sending him flying back in an explosion of a violent wind storm and through 3 trees before slamming harshly into a 4th and slumping to the ground.

 **XXX**

Kakashi and Sakura landed in another clearing with Sasuke landing behind them seconds later. Before them stood Fuijin and Raijin, who grinned numbly and waited for the "Ninja with yummy hair" to make a move. Kakashi whispered to Sasuke and Sakura "We don't be able to overpower them. Our best bet is to out smart then." He proceeded to whisper some details to his team.

Sasuke and Sakura jumped into the trees and hid themselves while Kakashi made a few hand seals before slamming his hand onto the ground. "Doton: Doryūheki!" He shouted (Earth Style: Mud Wall!) and 4 walls proceeded to spring up around the brothers. It was at this point Sasuke and Sakura both threw a few kunai with explosive tags at the walls as they formed, managing to slip them in before the walls came in contact and formed the structure around the brothers. A large explosion then rang out, blasting the walls apart, and throwing the brothers away from each other. Strangely enough, they were only slightly singed from the explosion. Sasuke took this opportunity to throw various shuriken with ninja wire attached at Raijin, who was flying towards a nearby tree. He successfully managed to wrap the wire around the tree and ensnare Raijin, and made a few quick hand seals himself. "Katon: Ryūka no Jutsu!" (Fire Release: Dragon Fire Jutsu!) and the wire which he had in his mouth immediately caught on fire, and a large fireball blazed along the line, rushing towards Raijin and right before it struck him, he raised his arms and snapped the wire with an angry grunt. He jumped away just in time for the fire to make contact with the tree and explode as well. Fuijin then ran over to his brother, who had an angry look on his face.

"Shall we crush them now, brother?" Said Fuijin.

"Yes." Said Raijin simply before they both took off running towards Kakashi. Seeing this high speed, Kakashi lifted his headband to reveal his own Sharingan, before jumping straight up as the brothers struck at him with a straight punch. He flipped over and landed behind them, and struck at Fuijin with a straight kick, which connected but didn't move the giant at all. The giant proceeded to quickly turn around and backhand Kakashi away, and the Jounin barely managed to block before he was thrown away. He landed on the ground on his feet but skid a few feet back, before grimacing and jumping into the tree himself.

"He is scared, brother." Giggled Raijin.

"Yes. Next time he comes out, we crush him." Smiled Fuijin.

Kakashi sat in the tree watching the brothers with a bored expression on his face. It was at that moment that he heard a rustling and Sasuke and Sakura jumped to his side.

"What will we do, Sensei?" Asked Sakura. "None of our attacks work."

"Genjutsu." Said Sasuke. "We have to trap them in an illusion. Seeing that they're even more stupid than I imagined, it should work."

Kakashi sighed and nodded. "Pretty much. How good are you with your Sharingan Genjutsu, Sasuke?"

"I can manage. The problem will be getting close enough to cast one, they move faster than I can react to." Begrudgingly admitted the Uchiha.

"Let's see." Said the Jounin thoughtly. He then made a familiar cross shaped hand seal. A clone poofed into existence and it made another hand seal. It then transformed into a copy of Sasuke.

"This is a Raiton: Kage Bunshin. (Lightning Release: Shadow Clone.) It'll shock them upon dispelling, allowing you a brief moment to get close and make eye contact." Stated Kakashi.

Sasuke nodded, he would have to get his timing damn near perfect. "What can I do Sensei?" Asked Sakura hopefully, looking for a chance to impress Sasuke.

"Mmm..try to not get smashed." Eye smiled the Jounin before he hopped down and the Sasuke-clone followed. Sakura hung her head in shame upon realizing she couldn't help much other than throw a few shuriken. Sasuke then hopped to a different tree to get a better vantage on the clone, leaving the pink haired girl alone.

 **XXX**

"Ugh.." Groaned Mizuki. That attack hurt, and demon was fast. This would've been it for his old self, but thankfully he could still fight with his improved body. He picked himself out of the tree rubble and stood up, cracking his back. He then walked back toward the clearing where Naruto stood nonchalantly. "Maybe you aren't as bad as I originally thought, you demon, but now I'll show you why I'm your superior!" He took a deep breath and a large burst of a Chakra escaped the Ex-Chuunin. He began to get even larger, and his skin began to turn orange, with black-tiger like markings appeared on his arms and face. "Let's see if you can keep up now!" He laughed with a deeper voice, and took off in a burst of speed. He appeared in front of Naruto who ducked his straight punch, and the blonde retaliated with his own straight punch at Mizuki, which managed to connect and send the transformed man skidding back a few feet.

"Why can he still hit me!?" Thought the man in frustration. "I obtained the ultimate power from Orochimaru-Sama!" He then ran towards the blonde and launched a series of punches who were nimbly dodged, before the blonde back flipped away.

Naruto then laughed, only further enraging Mizuki. "Your power is nothing but a lie...Mizuki-Sensei." Said the blonde mockingly. "You can't achieve true power through some stupid experiment. I guess your visions of grandeur were nothing but illusions. You were among those who tried to make my life difficult. You'll pay dearly, here and now." He finished cooly.

Inside of Naruto's head, Kurama watched the fight unfold with a mild interest. **"I guess the idiot is quite capable of holding grudges. This is very different from how he usually behaves, I wonder what brought this on. Regardless, I'll enjoy watching the one called Mizuki die."** Chuckled the Fox.

Naruto then proceeded to make his familiar cross shaped seal, and 2 clones poofed into existence, with 2 immediately shooting forward and landing a kick each under Mizuki's chin, sending him flying up. The original then went through a few handseals and with shouted out "Suiton Mizurappa!" (Water Release: Wild Water Wave!) A large stream of water shot out of the blondes mouth and fanned out, keeping Mizuki aloft. He then made a different set of seals, and shouted Raiton: Kangekiha!" (Lightning Release: Wave of Inspiration!) Pumping high amounts of chakra into the Jutsu, his arms became alive with sparks which grew louder and larger by the second. Finally, he shot the sparks, which resembled small thunderbolts up the stream of water, and into the silver-haired man. The electricity crackled dangerously, before Mizuki's scream of pain shot out through the clearing.

"AAAAUUUUGGHHHHHHHHHHHHhhh..." A piercing cry rang out before gurgling out and a body falling harshly back to earth.

Naruto then walked over to Mizuki slowly, slightly frowning at the smell of burnt flesh.

" **Hmmm.."** Rumbled Kurama. **"Did you kill him?"**

"No. He isn't worth the effort. I did fry all of his nerve endings, so his life as a Shinobi is over. Regardless, let's go see how Kakashi is doing. But before that, he crouched down and pulled out a scroll, and making a half tiger seal, he activated the chakra within the ink of the Prisoner Transport Scroll. He used his other hand to touch Mizuki's forearm, and sent out another burst. The body disappeared in a poof. He then disappeared himself in a swirl of leaves, thinking "Alright! Finally got that sealless shunshin down." He grinned.

 **XXX**

Kakashi had sent out his booby-trapped clone 1st, following behind it underground using the Doton: Moguragakure no Jutsu (Earth Release: Hiding Like A Mole Technique) and after a few moments of Fuijin mock trading blows with the clone, it let itself get smashed, giving a large shock to his opponent. He took that opportunity to jump out of the ground and use one of his most basic but versatile visual Genjutsu. Fuijin locked eyes with Kakashi, watching the 3 Tomoe spin around in his eye hypnotically. The large man swayed, and simply fell to the ground, fast asleep. Kakashi sighed and looked over to see Raijin busy with his other clone and Sasuke. Thankfully he hadn't noticed. He quickly pulled out the scroll Naruto had given him and went through the same motions, and Fuijin's body was gone.

Naruto appeared next to Sakura, who was still hidden in the tree. "Hey Sakura, care to fill me in?"

"Naruto you idiot! Don't scare me like that!" She angrily whispered.

"If that scared you...you have a lot to work on as a Shinobi." He said with a raised eyebrow.

That served as a reminder that she was again, not helpful in this fight and hung her head as a rain cloud appeared over her. Naruto sighed and said "Well?"

"Kakashi-Sensei put one of those idiots in a Genjutsu and now Sasuke-kun is trying to do the same." She grumbled.

Naruto diverted his attention to the Uchiha, and was doing a fine job of working in tandem with his clone to land some impressive Taijutsu maneuvers. Unfortunately for him, his opponent was too large for the blows to have much effect. Kakashi then appeared beside Naruto and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"I assume Mizuki was taken care of?" He said.

Naruto grinned and pointed to his pouch, and Kakashi responded with an eye smile.

"Now," Said the Jounin. "Should we help Sasuke?"

"Let's have faith!" Exclaimed Naruto. "Just watch."

It was at this point Sasuke had enough of messing around. He nodded to his clone and it jumped up, while he went for another barrage of blows.

Raijin laughed. "It will not work, puny boy. I-"

He was cut off at the clone landed on his back and pressed both hands to his temple and dispersed itself, giving a large shock to the man, with a direct pathway to his nervous system. Raijin collapsed to his knees and Sasuke again ran forward, eyes wide and Sharingan spinning rapidly. I sidestepped and Raijin numbly lunged forward, trying to knock him away, but the large shock has impaired him much like it did his brother. Sasuke then cast his most powerful Sharingan Genjutsu, and instead of falling asleep, Raijin was paralyzed. The Uchiha then smirked and turned around.

"Damn...You.." He groaned before the rest of Team 7 jumped down and Kakashi delivered a chakra enhanced chop to his neck, successfully knocking him out. After having sealed Raijin away, Kakashi stood up and eye-smiled at his team.

"Well..that was troublesome. Let's get back to Konoha, shall we?" Everyone nodded gratefully and off they took into the trees.

 **XXX**

A few hours later they were in Konoha, walking into the Hokage tower. They climbed the stairs, and after a moments, reached the Sandiame's office. Kakashi knocked, and waited.

"Enter." Called Hiruzen. He smiled upon seeing Naruto and his team, which Naruto reciprocated.

"Team 7 reporting the success of the search and capture mission of Mizuki and his accomplices." Spoke Kakashi, while digging 3 scrolls out of his pouch. Hiruzen nodded and an ANBU materialized in the room, and bowed to the Hokage and Kakashi before receiving the scrolls, leaving as quickly as he appeared.

"Why did he bow to you, Kakashi-Sensei?" Asked Sakura.

"Well…" Kakashi started, before Naruto interrupted. "Kakashi-Sensei used to be an ANBU captain." He stated nonchalantly. Sasuke managed to raise an eyebrow, and Sakura exclaimed her surprise. Was her Sensei really that strong? She realized she was further behind her team pretty often, and he felt like she was powerless. Another rain cloud appeared over her said and she shut up.

"Hehe.." Chuckled Kakashi. "That's in the past, Naruto. Now I'm just your beloved sensei!" Everyone sweatdropped and Hiruzen cleared his throat.

"Distractions aside, any other details to report?" Asked the Hokage.

"No sir, other than Mizuki's fiance still lives in the outskirts of town and she might have some more information about his affiliation to Orochimaru."

Hiruzen nodded. "Very well, dismissed."

Kakashi turned to Team 7 and said "I'll give you guys 3 days off. Meet at our usual spot then. See ya." And was gone in a puff of smoke.

They bowed to the Hokage and exited. Once outside, Sasuke put a hand on Naruto's shoulder.

"Naruto. Spar with me." He said.

Naruto looked into his eyes and saw a spark, something that told him Sasuke wanted to improve his abilities instead of just validate his superiority complex. "Alright, you got it. Meet me at our training ground." He grinned. He then disappeared in a swirl of leaves and Sasuke nodded, before frowning and muttering "Show off.."

"Sasuke-Kun" Spoke up Sakura. "Can I come? I may learn something. I know I need to improve."

"Hn." Said Sasuke. "Don't care." But he thought "You may finally start to realize it. I hope you do before it's too late."

Sakura was thrilled he didn't reject her like always, so he followed him to their training ground. When they arrived, they saw Naruto sitting cross legged on the posts. Sakura jumped into a tree to observe, and Sasuke walked up to Naruto.

"You ready?" Asked the Uchiha, ready to show Naruto the results of his secret training.

In return, Naruto just raised his head, revealing a pair of purple ringed eyes that looked to be almost glowing.

And unbeknownst to all of them, Kakashi was sitting at the other side of a clearing, watching his students. "Well...Hopefully he doesn't kill him!" He eye-smiled.

 **XXX**

That's a wrap. Please review, it serves at motivation to keep writing. That cuts down time between chapters. :)


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8!

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Naruto got on his feet and cracked his neck and smirked at Sasuke, who took a deep breath and closed his eyes, concentrating his chakra towards his eyes. He knew the spar would be intense from the start and he was determined to show Naruto he wasn't falling behind. He opened his eyes and revealed his Sharingan, which almost seemed to be glowing, even in the middle of the day. Naruto raised an eyebrow.

"So you awakened your 3rd tomoe, huh?" He grinned. "This should be fun."

Sasuke smirked and immediately drew two kunai, then rushed Naruto, who ducked under the first swipe, and leaned back to narrowly avoid Sasuke's upward stab with the second blade. Naruto reached out and with his index finger extended, poked through the O-handle and the end of the knife with enough force to force the Uchiha to release it, spun it around and thrust it forward as well, but Sasuke was easily able to bring down his other arm to parry the attack, bringing them to a standstill, with Kunai grinding against Kunai.

"Hmph. You're going to have to do better than that, Uzumaki."

Naruto simply grinned before he pulled out a smoke bomb from his pouch and let it drop, blanketing their battlefield in smoke. Sasuke felt his presence disappear, before he tsked.

"I know you didn't forget I can see Chakra, it's no use hiding." He sighed before quickly tossing a barrage of shuriken into a tree a few meters away. The sound of clanging metal was heard before Naruto appeared hung upside down on a branch.

"Party pooper.." frowned Naruto before he sped through some seals , ending on Tiger. Sasuke effortlessly kept up, finishing the last seal the same time as Naruto. "Katon: Goukakyu no Jutsu" they simultaneously shouted (Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique) as two enormous fireballs blazed towards each other and collided, battling for superiority. Sasuke, being the Uchiha, had honed his fire element much more, and thus was beginning to overtake the blondes attack.

"Damn, I should've guessed." Muttered Naruto. "I need to work on my elements more." It was then that a Naruto clone jumped out of the tree where the genin hung and sped through his own seals, before launching a second fireball at the Uchiha, who rolled his eyes and quickly flipped out of the way. The fireball smashed into the earth and with a small explosion, left a small smoldering crater. Naruto also jumped away from the tree, canceling his jutsu and letting Sasuke's fireball smash into the tree and set it ablaze.

Kakashi, from a nearby tree sweat dropped. "Please don't destroy our training grounds either…" he muttered. Nonetheless, he was impressed at the amount of chakra both boys pumped into the Jutsu.

Sakura simply gulped. Those were large explosions, she thought.

Naruto and his clone both nodded at each other, before rushing at Sasuke who simply raised his arm in readiness. The Uchiha sidestepped the first blow, before grabbing the blondes arm and using the momentum, spun around and tossed him towards the 2nd rushing Naruto who simply dispelled the clone in a puff of smoke , and with a burst of speed not even Sasuke expected, burst through the plume of smoke with a kick to the Uchiha's stomach that sent him skidding back. He rushed forward again with a low kick, which was avoided by jumping up. Naruto then planted his hands , jumped and kicked upwards , which was blocked with Sasuke's arms in an X formation. The Uchiha then grabbed Naruto's leg, and swung his own foot around, clipping Naruto in the stomach as they both flipped away from each other and landed roughly where they started.

"Damn, his Sharingan lets him react to my normal speed" thought the Uzumaki. "Base line we're matched."

"Shall we quit playing around, Naruto?" Called out the black haired genin. "We're both more than capable of more."

"Let's push it then." He grinned. A pulse of chakra was sent to his gravity seals, deactivating them, which Sasuke clearly saw. The Uchiha closes his eyes, concentrating on a point behind his forehead, with a burst of chakra, Sasuke released the first gate and a larger burst of chakra followed, which in turn Naruto clearly saw.

"The gates..? When did…?" Wondered the blonde until he suddenly narrowed his eyes and muttered "Kakashi…" to which the silver haired ninja simply eye smiled. Turning his attention back to the Uchiha , they both nodded before shooting off at speeds that surprised even the jonin. A barrage of kicks and punches then ensued, which only slowed momentarily when someone scored a glancing blow, or barely managed to block one. Neither could get the upper hand until Sasuke took another deep breath, narrowed his eyes and suddenly stuck Naruto with an uppercut that sent the blonde flying, who barely managed to land in a crouched position.

"What the fuck.." groaned the Uzumaki. "You can open the 2nd gate as well?"

"I won't fall behind you, dobe. Get up and let's go, I know you still have strength to spare."

Kakashi sat in the tree slightly surprised. "He managed to fully open the 2nd gate. He could barely do it during our training. Two should be his limit though...let's see how Naruto reacts."

Sakura sat in the tree flabbergasted. She hadn't expected combat this high a level during a spar. She continued to watch, enthralled.

At even greater speeds, Naruto took off towards Sasuke, attempting another straight punch which Sasuke caught, albeit sliding back a bit. The two were nothing more but blurs at this point, with streaks of Red, Black & Purple occasionally being seen as they traded blows, neither one giving much ground. Naruto then vaulted over Sasuke, spun in mid air and delivered a sideways kick to the Uchiha's shoulder that was brushed off. Naruto noticed Sasuke grimaced with every hit he took, and made a point that all his blows hurt to block, and that one would eventually slip through the Uchiha's guard. Sasuke took this moment of distraction to appear in front of Naruto, and strike with his knee into Naruto's stomach, causing the blonde to spit up a bit of blood. "Fine, I guess our Taijutsu is more or less even at our full speed as well….Let's try this out then." Thought Naruto. He then made his familiar cross-shaped seal. 10 clones poofed into existence. Then all proceeded to rush at Sasuke, who drew another Kunai and slashed his way through the clones, only receiving superficial blows in return. He appeared behind Naruto , who held his head down enough to where his hair covered his eyes, holding the knife to the blondes neck. "Looks like I win, loser." Smirked the Uchiha.

"Kiss my ass, Sasuke." Smirked Naruto and all warning signals went off in Sasuke's head, but it was too late, as an invisible wall of tremendous force smashed into him, and sent him crashing into a tree. Naruto stood in the middle of a crater in the training field. "Shinra Tensei." (Almighty Push) he called out.

Sasuke managed to get himself up, and grimaced. Looking at Naruto, the blondes purple ringed eyes were clearly visible and bright even across the field . That attack hurt, and it was something he hadn't really seen before. His power surge from the 2nd gate was also gone, and he wouldn't be able to reopen it during their fight.

"Sorry Sasuke. That 2nd gate was a bit of a pain, even for me, with your natural speed. I had to shut it down."

Sasuke groaned before speeding through his seals and shouted "Katon: Ryuka no Jutsu" (Fire Style: Dragon Flame Jutsu) and large fireballs shaped like dragon heads shot towards Naruto who simply stood there and sighed. Just as they were about to strike , Naruto once again called out "Shinra Tensei" and another wall of force exploded outwards, dissipating the dragons to nothing more than sparks. "And now…." Naruto lifted his arm and called out "Banshō Ten'in" (Universal Pull)

Sasuke then felt himself be pulled suddenly towards Naruto, increasing in speed until he was caught by the collar of his shirt. Naruto then released him and stuck a solid punch to Sasuke's gut. The Uchiha skidded back on his knees and with a grunt, spit up a little blood.

"That was for the uppercut, asshole." Grinned Naruto. It was then that Kakashi jumped into the clearing.

"Alright you two, that's enough. You both fought well, especially you Sasuke, opening the 2nd gate, your taijutsu is up to par with Naruto here. Unfortunately, that Dojutsu is a little much for you at the moment."

"Hn." Grunted Sasuke. He would just have to get faster to avoid Naruto's attacks.

"Naruto," started Kakashi. "I'm impressed you just didn't lob a bunch of Jutsu at Sasuke."

"Well...bombarding someone with elemental jutsu doesn't do a good job of showing your true skill. I wanted to see where I stood physically with Sasuke, and the gates surprised me. You are strong." Naruto said, confidently, and he extended a hand out towards the Uchiha. Sasuke stared at it for a moment before taking it and standing up.

"I won't fall behind you, Naruto. I will defeat you." He fiercely said.

Naruto then put his fist to Sasuke's chest. "You're welcome to try. I won't fall behind you either." He smirked.

"Hn." Sasuke nodded and allowed a slight smirk. He then disappeared in his own shunshin.

"He really did learn a few tricks. Guess I need to step it up and figure this eye out...maybe I'll find Jiraiya and get him to tell me more about this…" Naruto muttered to himself and disappeared in his own shunshin, leaving Kakashi alone, who pulled out his book and simply walked away from the grounds, muttering something along the lines "I guess I will nominate them…" and he was gone.

Sakura was left in the tree, somewhat in shock at how strong her teammates were. Was she really this far behind. She left the grounds last, deep in thought. Maybe she had to reevaluate herself…

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

(The next few days were uneventful, with team 7 having somewhat of a break, with Naruto and Sasuke training themselves every day, not to be outdone.)

After a few days, the members of Team 7 awoke to find a note taped to each of their doors.

"Meet at our usual time at our usual place."

-Kakashi

"So 3 hours later than usual...got it" thought all 3 members simultaneously. They all went back inside to have breakfast, they had time.

A few hours later, all three members of Team 7 showed up at their training grounds at roughly the same time.

"Hey guys," said Naruto. "Kakashi left a note?"

Both of his teammates nodded. "I wonder what he wan-"

"What I want," interrupted their Jonin teacher, who appeared sitting on a branch nearby, "is to sign you all up for the Chunin exams! Take these forms, fill them out, and take them to room 302 at the Ninja Academy in 2 days. All 3 of you have to show up in order to take them, and don't be late. That's all, later kids." He said, and disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

"Chunin Exams?!" Exclaimed a starry-eyed Naruto, picturing himself on the top step of a podium with a dejected Sasuke on the 2nd step.

"That's something I can get behind." Smirked Sasuke, seeing a perfect opportunity to prove himself.

Sakura was left with a dilema. She didn't want to take the exams , she was worried they would be too tough. On the other hand, she know her teammates would be eager to test themselves and she couldn't let them down…

"Sakura." Called out Naruto, sensing his team mates discomfort. "Don't worry. You won't ever get stronger if you don't test yourself, and Sasuke and I have your back if the going gets rough. Right, Sasuke?"

"Hn." Nodded Sasuke. She was his teammate, albeit annoying, but he wouldn't abandon her, he swore against abandoning those he cared about, at least in this case, tolerated, a long time ago.

"Really..?" She sighed. "Thanks guys..I'll try my best to not be a burden."

"That's the right attitude. See you at the academy." Nodded Naruto. They all went their separate ways, hopeful anticipation building in even Sakura. For her, this could be a chance to show she was more than just brains. She was capable of more, why not bring it out in these exams.

For Sasuke, it was a further opportunity to test himself against unknown opponents. Naruto was a more than a match, but he needed something new to further test himself and his resolve.

As for Naruto, this meant more than a promotional to Chunin. This was an opportunity to prove to himself and the villagers of his growth, and show everyone he really was capable of taking the hat from the old man. He had no choice but to excel. With a new determination, he set off to see if Jiraiya was in town , and get him to teach him something new.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

( 2 Days Later, Ninja Academy)

"Alright you two, let's do this." started Naruto confidently , pushed aside the double doors and walked in, his two teammates close behind. The Chunin exams were about to begin.


End file.
